Majority calls for debate on SAHARA

The controversial Sahara issue is far from over. The Majority in Parliament has challenged its Minority counterpart to initiate a full debate on the matter, which has been subjected to public scrutiny for the past six months.

"We are prepared to debate the minority on the matter and we are prepared to meet them boot to boot and word for word", deputy Majority Leader, Papa Owusu-Ankomah MP, told Parliament Tuesday.


His challenge followed a statement made by the Energy Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah in response to issues raised by the minority led by its Spokesman on Energy, Kofi Asante, MP on the Sahara matter, which nearly sparked off a debate.


Statements of that kind according to the Standing orders of the House are not supposed to generate a full debate, but the controversial nature of the SAHARA issue nearly led to a debate but for the timely intervention of the Speaker Peter Ala Adjetey.


The Minority NDC held a press conference last week and called for the resignation of the Minister and the establishment of a full investigation into the SAHARA contract which according to them fraudulent and causes huge financial loss to the state.


In his statement, which touched on various issues, Kan-Dapaah insisted that the SARAHA contract is good contract, which causes no loss to the state and also did not require parliamentary approval. "The contract for the allocation of crude was a straight contract between Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Tema Oil Refinery (TOR). The management contract was also between TOR and SAHARA."

The reference to the government of Ghana was clearly superfluous and unnecessary, the Minister said. If the government of Ghana was not a party to the allocation contract, it did not need to be party to the Management Contract. "My advice is that in both law and in fact, the government of Ghana was not a party to either contract", Kan-Dapaah emphasised.


In his comments and response to the Minister's statement, the minority spokesman on Energy, Kofi Asante reiterated the NDC's call for a full probe into the SAHARA contract, saying the explanations given to the House were once again "inappropriate."


Hon. Asante insisted that the contract was between the governments of Ghana and Nigeria and therefore required parliamentary approval. He quoted a statement made by the Minster and printed in the official report of the Parliament (the Hansard) which quotes the Minister as saying that the contract was between the two governments.


The Minority Spokesman alleged that there is a correspondence between the Minister and his Nigerian counterparts. According to him, the Minister appointed SAHARA himself and there is a correspondence between the Minister and his Nigerian partners for a mutual benefit from the contract.


Hon. Asante produced a letter to the House purported to have been written by the Energy Minister copied to Foreign Minister and the Chief Executive of TOR, to his "technical partners" in Nigeria. According to the Member, the letter ends by saying, "we are looking forward to a mutual beneficial relationship" suggesting that the two stand to benefit from the contract.

Asante again alleged that "even before the contract was signed, the Minister had appointed SAHARA.


The MP who has been at the fore-front of the Minority call for a full probe or even a Commission of Enquiry into the SAHARA contract alerted the House that they (Minority) has a lot of documented evidence from NNPC to support their stand on the matter. He said these would be made available to the House and all Ghanaians at the right time.


His statement was greeted with shouts of "provide the evidence, provide the evidence", from the majority side, which showed their readiness to debate the matter until it reaches its logical conclusion.


The Minister and the government's advisor on energy, Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby later held a press conference to address some of the concerns raised by the Minority and sections of the media.


However, in spite of these, the SAHARA war does not seem to be over yet as both journalists and minority members of Parliament have vowed to pursue the matter until the facts are laid bare.

Government has however denied vehemently any wrong doing in the contract and expressed readiness to defend the contract.


Meanwhile, there are growing concerns that the current SAHARA war could have effect on the agreement between Ghana and Nigeria for the lifting of oil to the country and intend cause fuel shortage in Ghana.


The Energy Minister is expected to leave for Nigeria.