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A Board Member of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Lawyer Abraham Amaliba have explained that Tsatsu Tsikata and others who have been approved by the board to receive some amount of monies as Ex-gratia deserve it.

According to him, the six-year limitation period is for those who go to sleep on their rights and are not vigilant.

"..so if you know someone is owing you and you go and sleep over the issue you cannot come after six years and be requesting for those monies."

He said Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata and the others did not relax but kept requesting, writing petitions and prompting GNPC that they own them, of which the GNPC also acknowledged those petitions.

"As they kept reminding GNPC, the corporation also kept acknowledging and this kept the time stand-still, meaning they petitioned before six years," he said. 

There is no one who would leave an organization without taking his or her providence fund and leave the company free without accessing it.

"I can forgive those who are agitating because they do not know what was happening behind the scenes," he said in an interview on NEAT FM’s ‘Ghana Montie’ programme.

He said, Mrs. Esther Cobbah has the right to say she has not been paid any ex-gratia because though it has been approved by the corporate affairs in a statement issued, it has not yet been paid as it is in the media.

He said after the approval by board, It is now left with the Director of Finance to take the necessary steps to effect payment.

Madam Esther Amba Numaba Cobbah has denied ever being paid any amount by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) as being alleged by Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, K.T. Hammond.

Mr. Hammond had alleged that Madam Cobbah and three others were paid an amount of GHȻ1 million as compensation for work done.

Madam Cobbah, who worked in various capacities for GNPC in 1989 as the Public Affairs Manager, said although she is owed significant amounts for work done for the corporation, no payment has been made to her as is being alleged.

 She explained that in 1989, while she worked as the Public Affairs Manager of the corporation, she was sent on secondment to the West African Gas Pipeline in 1999 as the External Affairs Manager, a role she occupied until May 2001, when she was “unexpectedly” removed from the project by the then minister of energy.

He accepted the fact that, the board reviewed what the previous board had done without adding or subtracting any figure, because for fairness sake, Esther Cobbah, Tsatsu Tsikata and the others are all entitled to ex-gratia as others who have taken theirs already for working between 12 and 15 years in the corporation.