Coalition charges Akufo-Addo to interdict BOST MD

The Coalition for Social Justice (CJS) has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to interdict the Managing Director (MD) of Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST), Alfred Obeng, over the contaminated fuel sale scandal.

According to the group, the interdiction will enable the ministerial committee set up to investigate the recent scandal at BOST to discharge its duty with utmost sincerity to serve the national interest.

Mr. Samuel Gyamfi, the Conveynor for CJS, at a press conference on Tuesday, said: “The scandal is the biggest organised crime perpetuated against the people of Ghana.”

“CJS would ensure that the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), which is the constitutionally mandated body with the responsibility of investigating alleged and suspected corrupt practices by public officers, launches an inquiry into the matter in line with its duty under Article 218(E) of the 1992 Constitution,” he said.

He also called on the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to halt the registration and licensing of the companies involved in the scandal to enable the committee carry out its investigations.

Explaining why the group wanted the current MD of BOST to be interdicted, Mr. Gyamfi said Mr Obeng’s conduct was a breach of the law, fraudulent and a conflict of interest, and hence should not be allowed to stay in office.

He said the NPA had established that MOVENPIINA ENERGY was not legally licensed to operate in the downstream petroleum sector of Ghana.

“Our research also revealed that though the company was incorporated on June 1, it had already expressed its interest to purchase the contaminated oil on May 19.

“So before its incorporation, the company had already started hauling fuel from BOST when it had neither been registered as a business nor licensed by the NPA, hence the sale of five million litres of oil to an unregistered company was in violation of the laws of the country,” Mr. Gyamfi said.

He said the state of the oil also put the health of many Ghanaians at risk.

Mr. Gyamfi stated that Mr. Obeng also breached the law on conflict of interest by involving himself in the issue at hand.

He said Article 248 of the 1992 Constitution proscribed public officers from getting involved in state issues but their checks revealed that the address and telephone numbers on the letterhead of MOVENPIINA ENERGY could be traced to the residence and office of Mr. Alfred Obeng, which clearly indicated that M.r Obeng had personal interest in the affairs of the company and called on the President to crack the whip.

Few weeks ago, Ghana was said to have lost about GHC seven million in revenue following attempts by the BOST to sell contaminated fuel to some oil marketing companies.

BOST had been alleged to have sold five million litres of contaminated oil to MOVENPIINA ENERGY which in turn sold over 470,000 liters of the contaminated oil to ZUP OIL.