It said it was the considered view of the Ministry that due to the nature of the impasses and the fact that the Board was an interested party in the matter, an independent committee would produce a more objective result.The Ministry, consequently in consultation with the SEC has set up a three-member committee made up of a Senior Lawyer and Governance Expert, a Chartered Accountant and banker, and a Petroleum Expert at the Ministry to investigate the matter.

This was made known in a statement signed by Mr Lawrence Apaalse, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Energy and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday.  It assured Ghanaians that the Ministry and all Energy Sector Agencies would be committed to working in the interest of Ghana to ensure that the necessary structures are put in place for the product utilisation of the gas resources that the nation is so endowed with.

The statement said the Ministry’s attention was drawn to media reportage with the headline: “Frances Essiam locks GCMCL; Asks All Workers To Go Home” which was circulated on several online news portals.  It also come to the notice of the Ministry that the Board of the GCMC has in a meeting held on May 8, 2018, suspended the CEO of the Company and subsequently recommended the establishment of a committee to “Conduct investigations into an allegation of malpractices levelled against the CEO by a senior member of staff.”