History was made on Wednesday, June 28, when past CEOs and Board Chairmen of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) united with the current CEO and board chair to form and inaugurate the GNPC Retired Staff Association (GReSA).

The Association, among other things, is to unite GNPC former employees on pension, seek their welfare and provide support for them.

Tsatsu Tsikata, the honoured keynote speaker for the event joined the current CEO, Opoku-Ahweneeh Danquah with former CEOs, Nana Boakye Asafo-Adjei and Alex Kofi Mensah Mould, together with current and past Board Chairmen; Freddie Blay, Stephen Sekyere-Abankwa and Felix Addo did the inauguration together in Tema.

Mr Danquah, chairman for the occasion, said the national oil company is open to collaborating with retirees of the Corporation in achieving its set objective of becoming a world-class operator in the oil & gas industry.

He said the birthing of the association bodes well for the organisation as it presents it with critically needed knowledge reserve to be tapped into by current managers and employees.

Opoku-Ahweneeh Danquah noted that while retirement is legally required of formal employees of the organization, it is not by itself a restrainer of one’s ability to make meaningful contributions to its growth even after exiting.

“Retirement is not the end of the road, but the beginning of an open highway”

Citing the case of Sonatrach in Algeria which uses retired staff as consultants in building the capacity of its staff and that of other emerging oil countries at its training institute (Sonatrach AIP).

Updating the team on the status of GNPC’s current operations, he said the Corporation is expediting its search for hydrocarbons in the inland Voltaian Basin and used the opportunity to thank previous executives and staff who, in diverse ways, indispensably contributed to this project.

“We just completed phase IV of the seismic acquisition in the northern part of the country. The plan is to drill an exploratory well in the 1st quarter of 2024 and all activities necessary for the successful drilling campaign have been activated with preparations underway,” he commented.

He said the project’s success would be a game changer and expressed hope to count on the knowledge of members of GReSA when required in this regard.

Tsatsu Tsikata, the special guest speaker, retraced the history of GNPC’s growth into becoming fully functional as the national operator. He highlighted the importance of building local human capacity and eulogized several past employees who exhibited world-class competencies that shaped the corporation’s vision.

“GNPC has an enviable culture of developing and celebrating the capacity of its employees and this was done in a national context that ensured a sense of pride in the ability of Ghanaians to grow on their own even to the bewilderment of expats and partners from other nations and such is the capacity of those present in this Association,” he said.