Hassan Tampuli

After earning his master's degree, he returned to the National Service Scheme and established the Legal Department in April 2014. He headed the department until 2015, when he resigned from the service to co-found the corporate law firm East-bridge Associates.[3] While at the National Service Scheme, he was a visiting lecturer on constitutional law at the Faculty of Law of the Wisconsin International University College from 2014 to 2015. He resigned from the university in order to engage fully with his private law practice.[2] Hassan worked with the Energy and Natural Resource Practice Group of the law firm Bentsi – Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah as an associate lawyer.[3]

Among Tampuli's legal cases is his advocacy for the release of Lebanese-Ghanaian pilot, journalist, and author Samih Daboussi, who had been detained by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) in September 2016 for a period beyond what the Ghanaian constitution allowed.[4][5] Daboussi had published a book titled 59 years of Ghana to Nowhere: The Future is Now,[6] in which he detailed some activities of functionaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as well as then-president John Dramani Mahama.[4][7] Some sympathizers of the NDC felt that comments about members of the NDC in the book were offensive and lodged a complaint at the BNI. Daboussi was arrested at Kotoka International Airport upon returning from a trip to Lebanon. His house was searched without warrant by the BNI and copies of his books were seized.[6][8] The BNI reported that Samih was arrested because his conduct and activities were considered offensive to the president. Tampuli reported that he had been denied access to his client. A social media campaign ensued on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #FreeFadiNow seeking the release of Daboussi.[7] Daboussi was released after his bail application was granted.[9]

Tampuli is a member of the New Patriotic Party and has served at various levels of the party's structure. Prior to the 2016 Ghanaian general election, he was a member of the party's manifesto Subcommittee on Energy, and the Transition Subcommittee on Energy.[3] In January 2017, he was appointed as the acting and later substantive head of the National Petroleum Authority. He succeeded Moses Asaga who had served as the head of the authority since 2013.[2][3][10]