Opinions of Monday, 23 January 2017
Columnist: Lungu, Prof.
By Prof. Lungu
Press Statement: Fair-Trade Oil Share Ghana Campaign Declares Victory
(Victory in Battle for Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for Ghana's Oil)
20th January, 2017
For immediate release
Contact: Prof Lungu, Executive Coordinator, FTOS-Gh/PSA Campaign for Ghana
[Washington, DC, USA; Accra, Ghana; London, UK: For simultaneous E-release]
On this, the 59th Week, 4th Day, 21st hour, 21st minute, and 21st second, following the adoption and kickoff of the Ghana Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) Count-Down Calendar and Clock, and with the predictable and well-deserved defeat at the polls this past December, 2016, of Mr. John Dramani Mahama who surrounded himself with a coterie of self-seeking and amateur advisors, ministers and deputies, thus rendering him incapable of doing the right thing by Ghana - to wit, stop the $1.25 billion per year oil cash bleed by Ghana since 2010:
1. We, non-partisan and Ghana-centered Ghana Institute for Governance and Security (GIGS) and the principals, signatories, and supporters of the Fair-Trade Oil Share Ghana (FTOS-Gh/PSA) Campaign, hereby declare victory in the battle for adoption of World Standard PSA as the preferred and mandatory fiscal regime for Ghana's oil, a non-renewable resource.
2. In the declaration of victory, we, GIGS and the FTOS-Gh/PSA) Campaign wish to serve notice to the President Nana Akufo Addo Dankwa and the NPP government that the struggle for adoption of the PSA is a noble one. That he, being a serious man, now the President of Ghana, must publicly support the immediate adoption by Ghana of the PSA for all of Ghana's Oil and Gas, consistent with (a) fair international trade principles, (b) the acute and compelling needs of Ghanaian citizens, as sovereign owners of the Oil and Gas, and (c) great loses in oil revenues suffered by Ghana during the last 5 years that is in excess of $6 billion.
3. We, GIGS and the FTOS-Gh/PSA Campaign, with due regard for the mission we have assigned to ourselves, hereby state that the struggle for the PSA for Ghana's non-renewable Oil and Gas resources will continue, that our demand for Fair-Trade Oil share will permanently continue until (a) the adoption of the world standard PSA for Ghana, and (b) showing by the current government that Ghana is indeed getting a fair share of its own oil revenues that is better than 50%, consistent with global standards of the Oil and Gas industry.
4. We would like to thank all the signatories and supporters of the Fair-Trade Oil Share Ghana (FTOS-Gh/PSA) Campaign for adding their strong, uncompromising voices to the petitions we delivered to the now defeated, now former president John Dramani Mahama the last 2 years, that is still on-going.
5. Many supporters of the campaign provided financial support that went directly to the "foot soldiers" in Ghana, and to them, we owe a deep debt of gratitude. In this regard, we are most grateful for the efforts of Mr. Solomon Kwawukume, National Coordinator, FTOS-Gh/PSA, and many others, who, directly on the grounds in Ghana, assisted in providing data, information, and other resources that those NDC officials could have used to make better decisions for Ghana by adopting the PSA for Ghana's oil, and against the so-called Ghana Hybrid System.
6. By this communiqué, the FTOS-Gh/PSA Campaign say a special thank you to Dr. Raymond Atuguba being a consummate Ghana-centered professional, for assisting in opening doors shut by those in authority in Mr. Mahama's Presidential suite who appeared to either know nothing about what was going on in Speaker Edward Doe Adjaho's Parliament with respect to Ghana's oil contracts and/or, operated as if the efforts by Tema Chief Imam Adam Abubakar, Togbe Nakakpo Dugbaza VIII, Mr. Solomon Kwawukume, Mr. David Agbee, GIGS CEO, and supporters of the World Standard PSA for Ghana's Oil (and Gas) were nothing but prying eyes in a government business none of us had any interest or expertise in. (All of those officials now know what just swept through the now-vacated Mahama Presidential suite).
7. In closing, to President Nana Akufo Addo Dankwa, we say do the right thing by Ghana. Stop the billion-dollar annual oil cash bleed by Ghana immediately.
We say, without further delay, quickly and effectively work with Parliament to annul that predatory Act 919 approved by Mahama's government with the aid and comfort of MP Kobina Tahir "Hybrid" Hammond of the NPP practically the mid-night before the well-deserved defeat of Mr. Mahama, and his exit from the halls of political power at the Flagstaff House.
Nullify that predatory Ghana Hybrid System at bottom of the multi-billion dollar loss to Ghana. Adopt for Ghana the World Standard PSA. Secure for Ghana better than 50% of revenues consistent with industry baseline and fairness in trade and development.
8. To all Ghanaians and Ghana Supporters, we say the struggle for the PSA for Ghana's Oil and Gas, for fair compensation for Ghana's non-renewable oil and gas resources championed by the FTOS-GH/PSA Campaign and GIGS continues, until final victory in the struggle, until Ghana begins to receive 51% or better of revenues from the sale of Ghana's sovereign oil.
We thank all of you for your invaluable support of Ghana, and all its Peoples, both at home and abroad in the Diaspora.
//Signed ///PL/\1\
Prof Lungu
Executive Coordinator
FTOS-Gh/PSA Campaign for Ghana
//Signed///SK/\2\
Solomon Kwawukume
National Coordinator
FTOS-Gh/PSA Campaign for Ghana
//Signed///AA/\3\
Imam Adam Abubakar
Tema Chief Imam
National Leader
FTOS-Gh/PSA Campaign
for Ghana
//Signed///AK/\4\
Andy Kwawukume
Diaspora, EU & Asia Coordinator
FTOS-Gh/PSA Campaign
for Ghana
//Signed///TNDVIII/\5\
Paramount Chief Togbe Nakakpo Dugbaza VIII,
Traditional Authority Advisor
FTOS-Gh/PSA Campaign
for Ghana
Email: professor.lungu at yahoo dot com
WebPage: http://ghanahero.com/FTOS_GH_Campaign.html