Akufo-Addo's 'temporary ban' on petroleum contract is a big hoax (Part 3)

"....Corruption, secrecy, corporate raiders, and official tricksters...Why is Dr. Amin Adam now telling Ghanaians the Akufo Addo government will secretly 'make use of the direct negotiation option' for contracts still in status, without '...open and competitive bidding...( until)....the middle of next year...'?. Deputy Amin Adam is now begging for more time....Before he was ever Deputy Energy Minister...Amin Adam went all over the world...preaching and condemning secrecy in oil contracts in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa... He was even begging Uganda: 'Emulate South Sudan on oil companies... Uganda'. Now, almost 1 year into the position, Mr. Amin Adam is singing a strikingly different tune... begging for more time...", (Prof Lungu, 30 November, 2017).

Mr. Amin Adam was stridently arguing for swift passage of laws that would force government officials to reveal who in fact are behind the many oil companies holding oil contracts in Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana. Mr. Amin Adam was strongly arguing for swift passage of laws that would force government officials to reveal who in fact are vying for new oil blocks and contracts.

Before he was ever Deputy Energy Minister (owner of that prized deputy oil minister hat, we must say), even after receiving thousands of pounds sterling from the UK DFID development agency to prop up the Ghana oil revenue racket we've written so much about on these same pages, the ACEP Executive Director, Mr. Amin Adam, went all over the world preaching.

Mr. Amin Adam was preaching and condemning secrecy in oil contracts in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa not too long ago.

Fast forward to March, 2017, and Mr. Amin Adam's appointment by President Akufo Addo as Deputy Energy Minister.

And now, almost 1 year into the position, Mr. Amin Adam is singing a strikingly different tune.

Deputy Amin Adam is begging for more time.

DATELINE: NOVEMBER 22, 2013: "... Executive Director of ACEP, Mohammed Amin Adam....called on the government to incorporate a mandatory disclosure clause on oil and gas in the new Petroleum Exploration and Production (PEP)...to include...the PEP Bill disclosure of beneficial ownership in contract on all oil and gas....Amin Adam said the introduction of the mandatory contract disclosure and beneficial owners in contract clauses would promote transparency in the governance of the country’s oil and gas industry...would also address the situation where some politicians secretly establish oil and gas companies and award contract to themselves...".

DATELINE: September 24, 2014: "...Mohammed Amin Adam, ACEP’s Executive Director.... Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP),...(in a)...statement on Friday, July 18....(said)...We also...wish to call on Government to disclose the beneficial owners of all these companies (BlueStar, Heritage Oil, etc), both foreign and local...Government must also adopt an open and competitive process in licensing oil blocks, make contract disclosure mandatory and establish a register for the disclosure of beneficial ownership information...However,...we wish to also call on the government to strengthen Ghana’s anti-corruption agencies to identify, investigate and expose corruption in the emerging oil and gas industry...”.

DATELINE: 12th April 2016: "...(ACEP) is appalled by the quantum of illicit transactions going on in tax havens following the release of the Panama Papers. Particularly, issues relating to transparency on beneficial ownership in oil and mining deals...Unfortunately, we are sad that at this material time when the world is outraged at the dangers of tax and secret jurisdictions on our development, the Government of Ghana has failed in spite of several calls by citizens to incorporate into the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Bill, a clause for the mandatory disclosure of beneficial ownership information in oil deals...".

DATELINE: 21st April 2016: "... Mohammed Amin Adam (Expert) urges Uganda to require disclosure of beneficial companies' owners to promote transparency in extractives industry.....'Emulate South Sudan on oil companies, Uganda advised'...Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam...'In South Sudan, their law requires that a company must disclose all its beneficial owners, as well as the affiliates of the company before they can deal with you as far as oil contracts are concerned....he said........Beneficial ownership information is key in unravelling corruption, addressing issues of illicit financial flows,' he said…".

So, why is Dr. Amin Adam telling Ghanaians the Akufo Addo government will now secretly "make use of the direct negotiation option" for contracts still in status? That is, without utilizing "...open and competitive bidding...", until "....the middle of next year..."?

By what date and time, sirs?

Why, His Excellency President Nana Akufo Addo Dankwa Addo?

Why, Honorable Mr. Adam?

Why?

So it goes, Ghana!

SOURCES & NOTES:

(1) Dateline

(a) http://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/incorporate-mandatory-disclosure-clause-in-pep-bill-acep/).

(b) (https://www.facebook.com/gleeoil3/posts/586601728129968)

(c) https://www.modernghana.com/news/685480/panama-papers-frightening-ghana-and-africa-can-do-more-to.html).

(d) https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1422683/emulate-south-sudan-oil-companies-uganda-advised).

(2) Government places temporary ban on petroleum contract negotiations, Ghanaweb, at: (https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Government-places-temporary-ban-on-petroleum-contract-negotiations-600805).

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SUBJ: Akufo-Addo's Temporary Ban on Petroleum Contracts is a Big Hoax (Part 3)!

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