Paramount chiefs in the seven traditional areas in Nzema area of the Western Region have unanimously kicked against the president’s decision to appoint Dr. Ben Asante as the caretaker Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Gas Company Limited.
According to them, Professor Sagary Nokoe, a New Patriotic Party (NPP) member “of the soil, who understands the socio-cultural, economic, security, political and environmental dynamics of the terrain, should be made to head the company.
They thus warned that failure on the part of the president to grant them their wish “will in a long way sever the ties that bind us the people of Nzemaland to your party and leadership.”
At a press conference held at the palace of the Nsein Traditional area, the chiefs noted that “our appeal against the processing, declaration and confirmation of the nominee, Dr. Ben Asante, and the suggestion of Professor Sagary Nokoe, however, is informed by extensive social intelligence gathered, plus the weighing strengths of the latter based on his outstanding contributions to the development of the country both local, regional, national and international level.”
They implored President Akufo-Addo to avoid tampering with the respect Nzemas have had for themselves in the international space, urging that “the move to give the position of the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Gas Company to Dr. Asante will imply that Nzemas described by international standard as mostly influenced by the oil and gas, will become worse in this appointment under your [Nana Addo’s] regime than expected.”
They concluded that “we strongly hope that the consideration of Professor Kaku Sagary Nokoe as presented to you by the Nzema Maanle Council of Chiefs will become a referential landmark for the needed further support to your administration.”
Dr. Ben K. D. Asante, a renowned Engineer, was on January 30, 2017 appointed as the Caretaker CEO of the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas).
His caretaker position means he will act as the CEO of Ghana Gas until a substantive one is approved. In his acting role, he is also not permitted to take decisions that have policy implications.
Dr. Asante has over 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He was the technical director of Ghana’s first gas infrastructure project and also developed the gas infrastructure master plan for Ghana in 2008.
He has also served as a consultant to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and provided engineering services, project management and technical support for various projects across the world including UAE, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico, Russia, Thailand and USA.
He has worked for major companies including Nova/TransCanada and Enron and Jacobs Engineering.
Dr. Asante is a product of Mfantsipim School and holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering (KNUST, Ghana), and an MSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Calgary, Canada.
He also has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College, London/University of Calgary and has taught gas processing and pipeline engineering at Imperial College, UK and KNUST, Ghana.
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