NDC: Dubious Oil Dealings Exposed – Rejoinder

Dear Countrymen and women, it is indeed with deep pain that I put forward this write-up not because the issues raised by the original writer are factual or makes any sense but the sinister intention behind it. We all woke up on the morning of 01/08/10 to read in the Financial Times how the functionaries of the Kuffuor Administration used their connections with the then Government of Ghana to create an economic empire for themselves without spending a penny.

I have watched Nana Kofi Amankwaah through his articles on Ghanaweb and it is not that I take him serious but my personal feeling is that he has grown from eratic to psychiatric. Kofi Amankwaah’s articles are usually unintelligent, incoherent, and illogical. If he really exists he needs three things:

(1)He needs help with his English. His grammar is very bad. Not that I care so much about his level of education but in this day and age if you want to put something in the public domain you’ve got to make sure that not only what you are writing makes sense but also the grammar is standard and the language is refined. I am saying this because Ghanaweb readership also includes non Ghanaians and if we as a people do not care about the kind of language we speak in our homes others care and it is important curse words are excluded in our write ups. People of Ghana care so much for our culture and our image in the international circles and if Nana Amankwaa and his cohorts feel their political message would be heard better by using foul language, then let them keep it to themselves. I think if Nana Amankwaa’s intention was to inform the public about the true state of affairs in the oil industry in Ghana he could have taken his time to cross check his facts and his grammar as well. In his rush to put something out there to satisfy his paymasters, he came out with such an embarrassing write-up which even the fanatic NPPians are not enthused about, judging by their comments.

(2) He needs to be tutored in mathematical calculations. If as Nana Amankwaa claims, Ato Ahwoi collected a commission on $4b or whatever, 10% of it would amount to $400m AND NOT $40m. (3) Nana Amankwaa needs to have his mental health reviewed if he has not done already. If he has then I want to know the health facility that took care of him. I have followed Nana Amankwaa from 2007 and my personal opinion is that he needs help. I will suggest to his paymasters to have him properly checked because he is not helping their cause. He spends energy to waste our time. By the way, who is forcing him to write, he does not make sense in what he writes yet he feels his contribution has any impact (well, may be that is how he has got me to respond to this vague article full of hollow stories).

Now fellow readers let me come to the substantive issues. First of all serious oil exploration in Ghana started in the 80s led by Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata’s GNPC. Instead of recognizing his contribution, the NPP administration decided to prosecute him with a frivolous charge which could not hold water and contributed to Kuffuor’s battered international image. This is part of the problem between Kuffour and Akuffu-Addo as the ex-President was making things harder for the latter in the international circles because the much talked about rule of law did not really exist in the Kuffuor regime. As for Kosmos all they did was to obtain critical data from GNPC which was given on silver plate, and which enabled them to hit the exact spot where oil could be found.

I must say that the Financial Times report of abuse by Kuffuor’s men in the oil industry is based on solid facts uncovered through thorough investigations by the US and Ghanaian authorities. When George Owusu met the then Ambassador Edusei their primary aim was to find a company which was to work on their terms by being paid huge sums of money, and also reward them with the financing of a stake in the oil business, in exchange for the critical Data which was only available to the authorities. This they succeeded with Kosmos, which explains how they came by their stake in the Jubilee Oil field.

Fellow countrymen, distinguished readers, as their normal business practice, Kosmos delayed in announcing the oil find to boost their cost and therefore the value of their portfolio. Again, in accordance with their strategic planning, Kosmos decided to offload their interest in Jubilee. What Kosmos did not realize is that they are dealing with a different administration, which has more experienced and patriotic than those who helped them milk the people of Ghana. This new team wanted to ensure that Kosmos and for that matter any other oil company, large or small, would respect the laws, rules and regulations governing oil exploration in Ghana.

Kosmos took confidential data they acquired from GNPC and also through their participation in the Ghanaian oil exploration, to the market to help them increase the value of their stake in the oilfield. This is the bone of contention between the GNPC, representing the Ghanaian government (the people of Ghana) and Kosmos. Now tell me which country will in this day and age allow a foreign private company, after acquiring technical confidential information about no other industry than oil, to venture into the open market and divulge this information to maximize its (the company’s) profit.

When Kosmos realized it was not going to have its way with the new Ghanaian authorities, they quickly turned to Exxon/Mobil, who in turn decided to use their size, political and financial clout to crowd out other competitors and the GNPC itself. All GNPC is saying is that the oil deposit belongs to people of Ghana. Therefore, if any entity wants to exploit it, it should be done with the interest of the people at the center of it.

My question is: (1) If the so-called greedy bastards are saying no to Kosmos going directly to dispose off our National Asset without recourse to the GNPC, what makes them criminals in the eyes of Kofi Amankwaa and his paymasters? (2) If the GNPC is renegotiating with Kosmos to get the best deal for Ghanaians what is criminal about it? (3) If for any reason the GNPC is negotiating for a loan to purchase the Kosmos interest in the oilfield in the interest of the people,what is criminal about it? (4) If Atta Mills Government wants to depart from the previous corrupt practice where government functionaries fraudulently acquire shares in companies dealing with government institutions, what is criminal about it? (5) Can the psyco Kofi Amankwaah confirm whether the Kosmos interest in Jubilee oilfield has been sold to the Chinese?

You see these are the Kejetia ‘politricks’ Nana Amankwaah forgot to leave at Kumasi Adum when sojourning to New York. The man and his paymasters are confused because their misdeeds are now out and are looking for escape routes. The issue at state is not who will exploit our oil but who has taken Ghanaians for granted. Dear reader please read the Friday 01/08/10 edition of the Financial Times. Whether it is going to be Exxon or Chinese or Indians what is important is whether it is in the best interest of the people. In the final analysis any negotiations must be conducted on the Basis of trust and in good faith. Such negotiations I dare say MUST protect the sovereign national interest of the people of Ghana. This is the moral duty of any responsible Government and its officials.

So far, it is a fact that the ongoing negotiations have yielded to the people of Ghana 100,000 cubic units of free natural gas which would have otherwise been sold to us for $800million. In my opinion, what Nana Amankwaah and his paymasters sought to achieve with their article was to divert attention from the damning Financial Times publication and concoct a story referencing the recent comment by the NDC founder to discredit the work of the GNPC board and the management team.

I want to ask a quick question here; why were members of the NPP Minority scared and were questioning the NDC government’s intent in appointing a CEO even before he was nominated? Hmmmm, Nana you did not help the cause of your paymasters because the US and Ghanaian authorities are investigating how Ambassador Edusei and George Owusu came by the 3% stake and also the huge amounts paid to them as operational expenses when Dr. Edusei was still the accredited Ghana’s Ambassador to the US.

As Ghanaian citizens who genuinely care for our brothers and sisters and the interest of future generations, should we accept another Vodafone deal and allow our sovereign interest to be trampled upon? My answer is emphatically NO. I know by the time the security agencies conclude their investigations Exxon will not want to deal with Kosmos. Stay tuned for part II.

By: Fredy Briston.