GNPC/Kosmos Saga: Emotions Usurp Reasoning

In their quest to defend lies, sometimes liars sound so foolish that they hardly know it when they are virtually walking naked in public. I personally do not have any problem if people want to argue for what they believe in. but please make sense when you do. Ghana has become an interesting destination for many people from all over the world. I certainly would not want them to access our website and conclude that all Ghanaians reason like idiots. A nameless “pressure group,” rather than leaving intelligent people to discuss matters of importance to our nation, decided to poke their nose in this Kosmos/GNPC saga. Their argument makes you wonder where they schooled.

First they listed several bullet points in a lame attempt to enumerate the many ways in which Ghana has suffered because of Kosmos’ so-called sharing of data with other companies. In the end, they made one single point – that Ghana has been “deprived” of fees. Of course, they omitted not only their name, but they also omitted the reasons why Ghana has been “deprived” of fees or revenue.

The fact is that the data is only on the Jubilee field and all partners have the information. Any third party that would have a need for that data is a farm-in prospect, of is seeking to buy out a partner. So what particular fees was Ghana “deprived” of? Oh, I got it. May be Ghana needed to show some people who would have been interested in buying some of the partners out.

Hmmm, let’s see. Tsatsu and his henchmen visited ten countries and showed that same data to 35 companies over a nine-month period. Did I mention that they did not disclose their data sharing odyssey with Kosmos who actually spent over $30 million to acquire interpret and analyze the data? Anyway not one of those 35 companies showed any interest. Probably because the guy with the data is an ex-convict, and with all these 419 and sakawa going on, no one wanted to bite. So what value is that data to Ghana if we do not know what to do with it? How then was Ghana “deprived” of revenues and fees and what nots?

On the other hand Kosmos was able to secure an offer of $4 billion from an industry leader with proven record of success where ever they have operated. ExxonMobil can bring to bear its wealth of experience to make sure that Jubilee Field operator Tullow does not continue to mess up and lose millions for Ghana.

Look. I am a former employee of GNPC. I happen to know that all this squeezing of Kosmos is nothing but a ploy to muddy the waters to ensure that certain people that are not exactly the favorites of Tsatsu Tsikata do not get what is due to them.

Let us all take a deep breath and ask ourselves the following questions:

* Why is it that two Ghanaian guys who own 3.5% have been disparaged all over the country as thieves and greedy people but one guy who owns 5%, also a Ghanaian has never been mentioned? Here is a hint: the two guys with 3.5% are Ashantis and the one guy with 5% is a Fante. Personally I have no problem with any of them because if they had not acted, none of us would be talking about the millions of dollars that we are arguing about. Furthermore, at least we know that 8.5% of the asset would go to Ghanaians who would more than likely keep the money in Ghana and create jobs for Ghanaians. * Why is it that Vanco Energy, which also discovered oil recently signed a deal with no Ghanaian ownership, is not even in the news? Vanco has 90% and Ghana has 10%. No one at GNPC has lifted an eyebrow. What does it say about us as a people that we would rather have foreigners take all of 90%, but we are willing to kill to stop GHANAIANS from getting a portion that would have gone to foreigners? I was not fired; I quit that cult called GNPC because of this nonsense. It is very difficult to work in that environment if you have any shred of objectivity and conscience. * Can we as a people not see a pattern in between a behavior that prevented us from discovering commercial quantity oil for 15 years and our current inability to secure funding to buy Kosmos’ stake? It is simple; we are not good business persons. We act as that girl who thinks she is all that, and who cannot get a date as a result. Sometimes humility becomes a virtue. Our oil is a drop in the bucket compared to how much is being produced out of the continent. Yet we act as though the whole world should bow to us. * Do Ghanaians know that the same Kosmos that we are labeling as criminal has paid up to about $45 million for Ghana’s portion of the development cost because Ghana has no money to pay? What does it say about a people who would bite the very hand that feeds them?

I know the insults will rain on me, and that’s OK. I just wish that those having a high blood pressure over this saga would just take a moment and reflect to themselves that if the tables were turned, would they feel the same way. Members of this nameless “pressure group” should ask themselves just what do they want to achieve? If they do not arrive at an answer named “jealousy,” then something is wrong with the thinking process.

Robert Nyantakyi.