The Accra Fast Track High Court which convicted and sentenced the former Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata has refused his application for bail. The Court has therefore asked him to file for an appeal against the sentence. Mr. Tsikata whose counsel was not present in Court, filed the application himself. He asked the Court to grant him bail so he could contact his lawyer who is currently out of the country. The trial judge, Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban said “the application for bail is refused, you have the right to appeal against the decision of the court.” A Principal State Attorney, Mrs. Yvonne Attakora Obuobisa, who was in court with Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, opposed the bail application. Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata was sentenced to five years imprisonment earlier today, June 18,2008 after he was tried and found guilty on three counts of willfully causing financial loss of GH¢230,000 (2.3 billion old Ghana Cedis) to the State through a loan he, on behalf of GNPC, guaranteed for Valley Farms, a private company, and another count of misapplying public property. He was found guilty on all four counts and sentenced to five years on each count. The sentences run concurrently. By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi