Tsatsu Tsikata, a Rig And the Over $20million Gamble

At the Takoradi Naval Base a contraption reflecting humanity's engineering dexterity bobs and weaves almost lazily but sturdily on the choppy waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

In its aquatic solitude this oil rig bears a sordid tale of financial recklessness and sleaze bordering on the felonious which has scorched the soft economic underbelly of our country. The central protagonist of this horrific opera for whom clarity on vexing questions must be sought is the former chief executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata.

The North Sea Pioneer (NSP) as this rig is called clearly failed to pioneer Ghana's own search for oil and possible penetration into the offshore oil prospecting business and tragically burdened Ghana with a senseless loss of close to over US$20million under the scepter of Mr. Tsikata, then GNPC boss.

By the GNPC's own records the NSP production platform was bought for $10.33million in 1991 and refurbished at a cost of $11.7million in Methyl, Scotland barely a year later. Industry experts are unanimous in their belief that investment logic was inverted and sound rudimentary business sense flouted in this use of the Republic's resources sanctioned by Mr. Tsikata.

Why did Mr. Tsikata sanction a transaction in which the cost of overhauling or refurbishment will exceed the cost of purchase? His answers may provide some clues.

The most bizarre aspect of this saga is that this over $20million investment was dragged into war ridden Angola where the activities of UNITA conspired to make the NSP inactive.

Why would anyone with a fertile enough mind send his or her golden egg laying hen into the lion's den? Mr. Tsikata may yet have the answer to this query. After such a bout of inertia the NSP is towed back to Ghana and attempts are made to sell it after the sheer uselessness of the whole investment dawns.

The offers for the NSP were sobering when GNPC was casting about for a buyer: one company offered $1.5million, another $1.0million. The over $20million sunk into the NSP on Mr. Tsikata's instructions simply produced a miserable pittance.

Curiously the current management of the GNPC seems to be glossing over this Las Vegas style frittering of such huge sums of Ghana's money. In a press release of October 21, 2003 the GNPC simply papered over the searching questions involved in the NSP affair by hailing the return of the rig as a victory for 'South-South co-operation!'

The question is why the current GNPC management including its board is silent on such a worrying matter? Does it not find any case of potential misuse of state funds?

Mr. Tsikata's answers may yet be vital in providing the necessary light on why the nation's resources were flung into the sea.