Court Clears Tsatsu Tsikata Of Financial Loss Charges

Former GNPC Chief Executive Tsatsu Tsikata has been cleared of charges of causing financial loss to the state by a Court of Appeal.

The court in a ruling Wednesday said the incarceration of the legal practitioner by an Accra Fast Track High court for causing financial loss to the state in 2008 was a miscarriage of justice.

The Fast Track High court found him guilty for causing a financial loss of GHC230,000 to the state.

Despite receiving a presidential pardon in the nick of the 2008 elections, Tsikata has continued to fight for his innocence in the matter.

Background

Tsatsu Tsikata was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on June 18, 2008 by the Accra Fast Track High Court for causing financial loss to the state through a loan that the GNPC guaranteed for Valley Farms, a private cocoa-growing company.

He was found guilty on three counts of wilfully causing financial loss of GH¢230,000 to the state and another count of misapplying public property.

His trial started in 2002 and travelled back and forth the court ladder until his sentence, which generated a lot of controversy.

Valley Farms contracted the loan from Caisse Francaise de Development in 1991 but defaulted in the payment and the GNPC, which acted as the guarantor, was compelled to pay it in 1996.

Mr Tsatsu Tsikata was unconditionally pardoned by former President J.A. Kufuor on his last day in office but he rejected the pardon and insisted that he would continue to pursue justice in the court of law.