IES boss says BOST MD’s resignation is not surprising

In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, Mr Anamoah Sakyi explained that he is not surprised because of the polarized nature of BOST.

“BOST is a very complex thing and equally polarised with personal interest. It will require a lot of work to be able to manage interests there. The MD’s [resignation] does not come as a surprise because if you understand BOST very well, it is a system where people have different interests. People come to you [ Managing Director], everyone behaves like a special advisor to you. You get good advice and there are people who even want to be MD and so if they find you to be not in a strong position and you are not well positioned to understand the industry well, they will mislead you.”

He added that he also could not give clear reasons for Mr. Okley resigned.

“For now we have not been able to reach Mr. Okley himself but the information we have received is so scanty. We initially picked information that it was over a contract issue but as to the exact contract we are yet to find out.”

Chief Executive of BOST resigns

George Mensah Okley tendered his resignation to the President on Friday, August 23, 2019.

Even though the reasons for his resignation are unclear, it is suspected that it may be linked to an issue of contracts at BOST.

Meanwhile, the President has appointed Edwin Provencal has been named as the new MD for BOST.

Unending troubles at BOST

Mr Okley was appointed by President Nana Addo in 2017 as Managing Director for the state-owned entity, following the removal from office of his predecessor, Alfred Obeng Boateng.

In 2017 BOST was in the news for causing the country to lose of about GHC7 million in revenue for allegedly selling some five million litres of contaminated fuel at a cheap price to two unlicensed companies [at the time]; Movenpinaa and Zup Oil, set up days before the sale.

After the news, there were calls for the then BOST MD, Alfred Obeng Boateng to be interdicted.

However, he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Ministry of Energy.

Battle with COPEC

In 2018, the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), also accused the then MD, Alfred Obeng Boateng of financial malfeasance.

According to COPEC, Ghana lost about GHC23 million in revenue when 1.8 million barrels of crude oil was sold at a discount to an unlicensed company in April 2018.

At the time, Alfred Obeng Boateng denied the accusations. However, COPEC petitioned the Special Prosecutor to investigate the allegations.

The President subsequently sacked Mr. Obeng and named George Mensah Okley as the new MD.