Kofi Jumah Damns Tsatsu: You Should Have Been A 'Cleaner'

Former Member of Parliament for Asokwa, Maxwell Kofi Jumah, has taken umbrage at Tsatsu Tsikata's description of former President John Agyekum Kufuor as �a debt collector� in the drill ship saga. According to Kofi Jumah, the former chief executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC) was only fit to be a �cleaner� at GNPC instead of its head if this is his level of thinking. Narrating the role he played which led to the controversial sale of GNPC's drill ship to settle a debt, a matter which is currently the subject of an inquiry by the Judgement Debt Commission, Tsatsu Tsikata accused the erstwhile Kufuor administration of not doing due diligence before selling the ship to pay off a debt owed French bank, Societe Generale. The ship was sold for US$24m. US$19.5 million of the sale proceeds was used to pay off a default judgment debt slapped against the GNPC in favour of Societe Generale by an English Court. US$900,000 was deposited into an escrow account to settle GNPC�s indebtedness to some of its creditors and suppliers while US$100,000 was used to pay legal fees concerning the sale transaction. However, US$3.5 million of the US$24 million is still unaccounted for, and the Judgement Debt Commission is seeking to unravel the mystery. But when Mr. Tsikata appeared before the Commission, he accused the Kufuor administration of failing to do due diligence before the sale. He intimated that former President Kufuor was virtually �a debt collector� for Societe Generale and never sought the interest of Ghana. Tsatsu Tsikata added that he left GNPC in a very good state contrary to claims that it had collapsed before the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) came to power in the year 2000. In a riposte on Oman FM�s National Agenda, a livid Kofi Jumah questioned Tsatsu�s credential as head of GNPC. He was angered by what he described as the arrogance exhibited by Tsatsu Tsikata when he appeared before the Judgement Debt Commission. �How dare he insult former President, what is his qualification for that job. Tsatsu is only fit as a cleaner at GNPC,� he declared. Kofi Jumah noted that Tsatsu Tsikata had saddled the country with more debts and thus has no moral right to question the judgement of the Kufuor government who he says saved GNPC from collapse.