*Ghana Oil Watch*
The United States Justice Department has cleared the EO Group and its two principals George Yaw Owusu and Kwame Bawuah-Edusei of all violations of Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA) in their acquisition of the West Cape Three Points Block in Ghana on July 22, 2004. This decision was reached after extensive investigations launched following allegations leveled by one of EO partners Anadarko Petroleum of Houston, Texas, yielded no evidence of FCPA violations.
The truth, and the whole truth, is finally out. The U S Justice Department is internationally recognized and undisputed as one of the most sophisticated, aggressive, and impartial law enforcement agencies in the world. This department has the most extensive arsenal of legal and other resources in investigative matters especially in international affairs. All these resources were placed at the disposal of investigators to review over eight (8) million pieces of documents including emails, bank records and others. In addition, the two principals of the EO Group endured detailed and formal interviews by the U S Justice Department.
In a Declination letter dated 2nd June 2010, the U S Justice Department stated that they “*do not intend to take any enforcement action against EO Group or its principals, including Mr. Owusu and Dr Edusei, and have closed our inquiry into the matter.”*
It can be recalled that the new NDC government in Ghana also started its own investigations and used the state security agency to ransack the offices and homes of the EO partners collecting all documents, computer motherboards, bank records, and every imaginable item for extensive examination. As if that was not enough, the EO partners have also been subjected to intimidating and biased interrogation by state security agents, many of whom were politically appointed.
It is well known that the competent professionals at the Attorney General’s Department, after extensive analysis of the EO Group’s case, had persistently asserted that there are no prosecutable offenses committed. Yet, certain selfish radicals were bent on getting their pound of flesh and overruled these patriotic professionals. Now these men and women of the Attorney General’s office, who were sidelined for placing objectivity over politics, have also been vindicated by this US Justice Department ruling, and must be commended for their professionalism.
The summary of all pieces of information gathered from these investigations were completely shared with the U S Justice Department. In an unprecedented quest to clear the doubting Thomases, the Attorney General herself made as many as three trips to the United States to physically interface with the American authorities in pursuit of what many called “a wild goose chase.” In the final analysis, after combining the findings of investigations conducted in the two countries, the emphatic conclusion is that the EO Group and its Partners are innocent of any criminal business practices.
For the record, no Ghanaian company in our nation’s history has ever endured such extensive, demeaning, humiliating and invasive scrutiny based on such unfounded allegations. Unfortunately, despite the outstanding accomplishment by EO Group by inducing otherwise unwilling investors to come and take risk in Ghana which has now resulted in the formation of a vibrant oil and gas industry, there are some who are still seeking to destroy its good works. But without a doubt, the Kosmos discovery of commercial quantities of oil in Ghana cannot be mentioned without the due recognition of the role played by members of EO Group. The Group and its principals have indeed earned its rightful place in history for the transformational role in Ghana’s history. Ironically, those spearheading this political persecuting are themselves running over each other to fully control Ghana’s oil and gas for their selfish interest while depriving the risk takers of their due rewards.
This U S Justice Department investigation was used as an excuse by the Ghana government to begin its own review of the EO Group. The Ghana government is on record to have shared results of their investigations with their US counterparts. Therefore now that the investigations have concluded, and EO Group is exonerated, the Ghana government must do the logical and right thing by not restarting any more wild goose chases. These Ghanaian authorities worked closely with their United States Counterparts and must accept this final verdict. This would create the right environment of togetherness needed to develop our country.
In a statement reacting to the Justice Department decision, the clearly elated EO Group partners first gave gratitude to God saying “God’s will has prevailed. The truth has come out, and now is the time for Ghanaians to come together to develop this transformational asset in order to catapult our nation to middle income status.” Asked if they hold any grudges against the Ghana government, the EO Group partners waived off any antagonistic sentiments and asserted their strong belief in Ghana their motherland. “At the end of the day, we are all Ghanaians, and we never lost that belief,” they said. This is a clear and positive conclusion to this part of our national history and this government must accept it, do the right thing, and conclude its own investigation of Ghana’s heroes
