Tsatsu Tsikata ‘Not Guilty’ Of Causing Financial Loss – Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court judgment which sentenced a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Tsatsu Tsikata to jail, for willfully causing financial loss to the state.

According to the Court of Appeal, the judgment of the High Court was a miscarriage of justice, because it did not give Mr. Tsikata a fair opportunity to defend himself.

The Court further went head to acquit and discharge Tsatsu Tsikata of all charges brought against him.

Mr. Tsikata in June 2016, went to the Court of Appeal to challenge the decision of the High Court.

In his appeal, Mr. Tsikata stated that, the verdict that led to his imprisonment was unreasonable and was not supported by evidence.

He also added that, the judge erred in law in deciding that financial loss had been caused simply because payment of monies had been made by the GNPC.

Background

Tsatsu Tsikata was jailed for five years 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 willfully causing financial loss of GH¢230,000 to the state, and another count of misapplying public property.

His trial started in 2002 under the then Kufuor administration, and traveled back and forth the court until he was sentenced, 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, although he left the prison since his health was failing.

By: Fred Djabanor