TOR MD & NPA Boss Sued For Contempt

The CEO of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mr Alex Mould,and the Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Ato Ampiah have been cited in their personal capacities for contempt of court following their refusal to comply with court orders issued last year. Alongside these two, the NPA and TOR as corporate entities, have also been cited as guilty parties. The contempt charge will be heard on Wednesday June 27. In November last year, an Accra High Court ordered both the NPA and TOR to pay the fuel margins they collected since June 2009 into the Consolidated Fund. They were to refund an estimated GH�800 million of illegal fuel price margins disguised as �ex-refinery differential� into the Consolidated Fund, and also, to remove the illegal margins from the fuel price build up. The applicants behind this committal for contempt are Mr. Kwaku Kwarteng, the NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Obuasi, and a Tamale resident, Mr Abdul Ganiyu of Development Data, a policy research organization. They are praying the High Court to punish Mr Mould and Mr Ampiah for willfully refusing to pay the amount accruing from the illegal charge into the Consolidated Fund, and also, for refusing to remove the �ex-refinery differential� from the fuel price build-up. The applicants say these contemptuous conducts have brought the courts to public ridicule.