Obasanjo's children behind Sahara deal

The Independent writes that another fallout from the Sahara Energy contract that has emerged from Energy Minister Kan-Dapaah’s presentation to Parliament last week is the issue of management fees.’

The paper says though the Minister has promised to make the Sahara contract available for the scrutiny of the Parliamentary Select Committee of Mines and Energy, one twist that may escape the Committee is that of management fees to be paid to Sahara Energy.

Investigations by the paper show that under the deal, Sahara is set to receive about 20 billion cedis (US$2.8 million) a year of the tax payer’s money for merely lifting crude oil to Ghana.

Throughout the crude oil lifting history of Ghana, the erstwhile Petroleum Department, Ghana Supply Commission, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and recently the Tema Oil Refinery have lifted crude oil to Ghana without the payment of any management fees by the state.

At a time when such unbelievably astronomical management fees are to be paid to Sahara, the Government is getting ready to lay off seventy per cent of GNPC staff.

Ironically, the 20 billion cedis that is to be paid to Sahara as management fees could pay the salaries of all GNPC staff for the next five years.

What even makes the Sahara deal more scorching is the fact that if GNPC had been paid management fees just as Sahara for lifting crude oil to Ghana for the twelve years that it did, amounting to over 110 million barrels, the state-owned Corporation would have received about 215 million cedis (US$30 million).

The paper says one of the reasons Energy Minister Kan-Dapaah has proffered for GNPC incurring a debt of over US$2 million with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is that the Corporation lacks the needed expertise to life crude oil.

However sources at the GNPC vehemently debunked the Minister's assertion.