The former Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA) replaces Tullow Ghana MD Charles Darku who retires at the end of April this year after almost five years at the helm.

Charles Darku joined Tullow Ghana Limited (TGL) in 2013 as the first Ghanaian to lead the company, and has been instrumental in delivering the company's primary objectives of oil and gas production.

A statement issued by Tullow announcing the movements described the in-coming MD, Kweku Awortwi as “an experienced international business executive with over twenty-five years' experience working in the energy sector, electricity, oil and gas, as well as the mining and extractive industries, in both the public and private sectors in Africa and the United States.”

Kweku Awortwi served for over four years as the CEO of VRA and at Ashanti Goldfields Company, where he was MD in charge of Strategic Planning and New Business Development.

"Kweku's 25 years of experience in senior leadership positions across the energy and extractive sectors together with his executive management experience makes him an excellent candidate to lead our Ghana business, as we look to consolidate upon our strong operational performance from the TEN and Jubilee fields and further grow our business in Ghana. I would like to thank Charles for his commitment and dedication over the last five years and for the significant contribution he has made to Tullow Ghana and Tullow Group. We wish Charles a long and happy retirement", the statement quotes Gary Thompson, Executive Vice President for Tullow, West Africa as saying.

On his part, the outgoing MD said he was proud of the work and achievements he has chalked with the team in Tullow Ghana, working with government and the private sector to nurture Ghana's new oil and gas industry.

He expressed gratitude for the support he enjoyed from Tullow, the Government and all other stakeholders, and wished Tullow success.

Kweku Awotwi on the other hand said he was extremely pleased to be joining Tullow Ghana at such a pivotal moment in the company's history and saw his appointment as a “great opportunity to build on Tullow's leadership in the development of Ghana's maturing oil and gas sector", with the ITLOS ruling out of the way and the approval of the Greater Jubilee Full Field Development Plan.