Plot Against Sipa Yankey Thickens

One of the often repeated clich�s in the energy sector is that �there are no saints when it comes to oil and gas� So when the then President Mills appointed Dr. George Sipa Yankey as Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) last year, many wondered how long he would last before the �hyenas� in the sector descend on him with the usual unsubstantiated allegations through proxies to kick him out so they could milk the company for themselves. So, when President Mills passed away, the time bomb for Dr. Sipa Yankey, whose short stint as a Minister of Health galvanized Ghana's health sector in recent times, began to tick with the speed of a super sonic jet. As many had feared, what is seen as a plot to get him out of the gas company for the 'hynas' to move in finally reared its ugly head when a so-called civil society group, the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas (CSPOG) at a press conference made allegations of financial malfeasance against him and called on President John Mahama to institute an investigations into the affairs of the company while in the interim, remove him so he will not interfere in the investigations. "We demand...that Dr. George Sipa Yankey be made to step aside as Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Gas, pending the institution of a high level forensic investigation into the affairs of the company," CSPOG said at the press conference held on Thursday. It is instructive to note that while making the allegations and therefore denting the image of Dr. Sipa Yankey while at the same time calling on the President to remove him from office, CSPOG did not produce even a shred of evidence against him. The plot against Dr. Sipa Yankey thickened and was pursued at a higher platform when during the questions and answers time at President John Mahama's Evening Encounter at the IEA on Thursday one of the members of the CSPOG was smuggled into the hall to ask the President to remove Dr. Sipa Yankey from the GNGC. In the weeks ahead, Ghanaians can expect the cries for the removal of the CEO of the GNGC to become shriller as the proxies for the real 'hyenas' who want to deep their hands into the gas company and make money for themselves shout themselves hoarse.