The credibility of the Managing Director (MD) of the state-owned Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST) is under serious scrutiny as workers of the company are accusing him of gross mismanagement and profligate expenditures that are causing financial loss of about $55 million to the strategic national asset.

BOST workers have accused their MD, Kingsley Kwame Awuah Darko of engaging in questionable transactions, leading to severe financial hemorrhage in BOST with some of them likely to be subjects of legal battles in court.

Available information indicates that BOST is unable to account for stock in excess of $52 million, even though, its facilities available to Bulk oil Distribution Companies (BDCs) for storage and distribution alone amount to $32 million.

The BDCs held a news conference yesterday following an audit report by Ernst & Young that their officials are colluding with officials of BOST to fleece the country.

The CEO of the Chamber of BDCs, Senyo Hosi denied the allegations and accused BOST of not doing enough to ensure adequate supply of petroleum products in Ghana.

He also accused Mr. Awuah Darko of releasing the yet to be commissioned audit report to the media to muddy waters and to downplay serious allegations of corruption level against him by BOST workers.

According to him, BDCs’ imports in 2011, 2012 and 2013 accounted for 98 percent of petroleum product supplies to the market.

BOST, he indicated had failed to hold strategic stocks since 2008.

Some of the allegations the BOST workers have leveled their MD include the wasteful expenditure of $1 million for office accommodation rent for BOST at Dzowullu in Accra; a controversial agreement with TSL, a Ghanaian subsidiary of Nigerian-owned firm in which BOST is to pay TSL a total amount of about $38 million for a year to operate, maintain and manage BOST’s petroleum terminals in the country as well as budgetary allocation of $16 million for automation across all BOST depots countrywide, all totaling the $55 million or GH¢209 million.

These are the few examples the workers have mentioned and have called on President John Dramani Mahama to set up an independent committee of inquiry to probe Mr. Awuah Darko who has been in the news in recent times.

The workers are praying that the MD will be made to step aside for the probe to be conducted so as to prevent any underhand dealings.

Sources close to the workers have told Vanguard that BOST recently moved into its controversial one million dollar office apartment (DEMMCO House) at Dzorwulu in Accra despite protestations against the stinky deal.

The new office accommodation, the paper has gleaned, is a one-floor building, which costs $43,400 a month compared to their previous spacious office at the airport residential area, which costs only $13,000 a month.

BOST, which is said to be grappling with some financial difficulties is renting the DEMMCO House for two years and has paid a whopping $1.043 million or about GH¢4.1 million for the duration.

According to information gathered, an invoice from Frontiers Developers Limited, owners of the facility confirmed the huge payment.

The date on the invoice was May 7, 2014, indicating that payment was made upfront to enable the company (Developers) embark on a renovation of the building.

Some professional private developers have told Vanguard that the amount used to pay for the new rent could have been used to build a plush office complex for BOST within nine months.

“For the nine months that we waited for the completion of the building, we could have used the period to build our own office. This is because BOST had already secured a land under the previous administration to build its own head office but this Managing Director has decided to make his own arrangement and this has caused huge financial loss to the company,” some of the workers informed the paper.

They also accused the MD for allegedly importing new customized furniture for his office at inflated cost from US whiles managers as well as other staff got office furniture that can only be described as “kindergarten tables and chairs.”

BOST signed an agreement with TSL, a Ghanaian subsidiary of Nigerian-owned Company, which workers of BOST and the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Distribution Companies (BDCs) opposed because they indicated the deal was shrouded in secrecy and lacked the local content policy of Ghana.

TSL has been contracted in a 12-month pilot deal to operate, maintain and manage BOST’s petroleum terminals in the country.

According to the agreement, the parties in the deal have the option of a five-year extension.

Workers of the company also indicated that under the deal, BOST pays TSL a total of $56,170.21 every month for 12 months as management fees with an additional payment of $594,000 every month for 12 months each year to cater for reimbursable.

These payments, which are about $38 million in total, include money for maintenance, training, standard operating procedures as well as salaries.

However, the BOST workers indicated that TSL is not doing any of these because it does not have the capacity to execute the project.

“TSL is using BOST staff to do the job given to them and they turn around to accuse BOST of lacking capacity,” a worker told Vanguard.

“The frightening aspect of the deal is that these huge payments are made without invoices neither are they backed by any form of acceptable documentation. The payments continue to go through with the support of the MD,” a worker alleged, adding that “TSL bills BOST for training fees for no training at all because BOST pays separately for its own training.”

“The TSL deal was to cut product losses but what the workers have discovered is that, the losses they seek to prevent are far less than the cost of solving the problem as far as BOST’s partnership with TSL is concerned,” a worker pointed out.

TSL had indicated that it would invest about $10 million on CCTVs, SCADA systems, flow metres, tank gauges and gantry upgrade.

However, the BDCs alleged TSL inflated the investment cost.

The Chief Executive Officer of the chamber, Senyo Hosi, said the outsourcing of the facilities to TSL was in blatant disregard of Ghana’s Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) in Sole Sourcing Nigerian Company to the exclusion of other competitors.

Furthermore, the BDCs opined the whole transaction was illegal because TSL was not licensed of National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to operate in the downstream petroleum industry, especially in storage and transportation of petroleum industry.

All these, according the BDCs, are a clear violation and breach of the Government's publicly declared commitment to promote the deepening of Ghanaian local content in all sectors of the economy, especially in the oil & gas industry.

According to information gathered, the Managing Director presented a budget of $8million for the total cost of automation across all BOST depots countrywide.

However, he is said to have doubled the amount to $16 million in less than a year.

The board, the paper gathered, has already approved the amount; a situation that worries BOST workers as they believe it was done without due diligence.

Some workers have indicated that the proposed restructuring of BOST by the MD was a calculated attempt to employ his cronies.

According to them, majority of the people he is bringing into BOST are from his former company; Money Systems although they are unqualified for the jobs given to do.

“The MD is elevating them above existing managers at an alarming rate just because these people owe allegiances to him,” the workers alleged.

The MD is also accused of allegedly witch-hunting members of staff he believes are not in support of his leadership style.

He is alleged to have suspended the company’s health and safety manager on frivolous grounds for more than five months without any committee to look into some “trumped-up” charges against him.

According to information gathered, whiles the said manager was on suspension, the MD was said to have found a replacement for him.

The MD is also reported to have suspended a lady in charge of Human Resources after accusing her of aiding the Senior Staff Association to unionize without his authorization.

Furthermore, another lady was also sacked whiles she was on sick leave and the woman had to go to court to force the MD to quickly pay her benefits.