President Nana Akufo-Addo has appointed Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
This ends months of speculations linking him to one of the most prestigious state owned enterprises in Ghana.
His appointment takes effect from July 1, 2020.
In a letter dated 17th June 2021, Dr Abdul-Hamid has been charged to champion the vision and mission of the NPA, which is to “Regulate, Oversee and Monitor the Petroleum Downstream Industry in Ghana for Efficiency, Growth and Stakeholder Satisfaction.”
He is expected to re-position the downstream petroleum regulator in order to address the huge revenue leakages in the sector.
He is taking over from Hassan Tampuli, who is now the Member of Parliament for Gushegu in the Northern Region.
He served as a Spokesperson to then-candidate Akufo-Addo from 2008 until 2017 when he became the Information Minister and Presidential Spokesperson.
Prior to that, he served as the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute and a lecturer at the University of Cape Coast.
Profile
Dr Abdul-Hamid was the first Information Minister in President Akufo-Addo’s first term in office but was later reassigned as the Minister for Inner City and Zongo Development.
Before then, he served as Spokesperson to then-candidate Akufo-Addo from 2008 until 2017.
He later served as the Deputy National Campaign Manager for President Akufo-Addo’s successful second term bid in 2020, and was in charge of the campaign’s communications.
Dr Abdul-Hamid attended Tamale Secondary School in 1987 for his Advanced level. In 1991, he was admitted to the University of Cape Coast to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree where he eventually majored in Religious Studies.
He subsequently obtained an M.Phil and a PhD in Religious Studies from the same university.
