AGC: Conspiracy Exposed!

By Kofi Coomson

Accra - The challenges of Africa's sole multinational which singularly accounts for over ninety per cent of the market capitalisation of the Ghana Stock Exchange are not over and threaten to take a new life from Monday, next week.

On Monday, an ex-parte action will be initiated at an Accra high court by Messrs Ghartey and Ghartey in the first of a series of what the Government's advisers on Ashanti themselves describe as a "risky" push designed to toss out the entire AGC board, including Mr. Kwame Peprah, the Minister of Finance and Board Chairman.

This move is unknown even to AGC, (a unique feature of ex-parte applications), but Chronicle intelligence has pieced together a series of intercepts and deep throat confessions which show this planned legal action as the quickest way to get for the Government what has eluded them all this time: an emergency general meeting to launch a bloodbath.

The government's advisers Messrs Jude Kofi Bucknor,47, and Ken Ofori-Atta,41, Chief Executives of Cal Merchant Bank and Databank Financial Services, respectively together with their London "counterparty" have already secured the support of one of the minority shareholders.

Dr. Michael Martineau, a Swiss businessman with interests in oil and mining and a bee in his bonnet has agreed to act as a bogey man to take the bull by the horns and kick off the action as the principal appellant.

Available documentary evidence traced to these advisers show the construction of a super-secret plot to pass off and hide the government's agenda by cloaking it in the guise of a shareholder revolt with a demand for an emergency general meeting to annihilate the entire management and the Board and allow a favoured party, Barrick, a huge Canadian mining multinational to have sway.

The Government's celebrated Chief Financial Wizard, Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, has courted the friendship of the Chief Executive of Barrick for the President of Ghana, though they strenuously oppose Lonmin which holds 33 per cent of the shares and is favoured by the AGC management and the Board.

Addax and Oryx Group have just under ten per cent of Ashanti shares, but according to the reading of Mr. Jude Bucknor and his Late Night advisers, Dr. Martineau has the ears and mind of another significant shareholder based in London called Genesis, a Fund Management company.

The two can command 20 per cent shares.

According to Jude's documented proposals crafted last month, all 20- per cent of the government's shares will go to prop up Addax's push and mop up a few additional shares to make up the 50 plus 1 per cent that they need to launch the putsch and win their way in an emergency general meeting.

By the wording of the memo, the indications are than an agreement has already been reached as to how they are going to distribute posts in the new Ashanti Management and the Board's composition.

It is not clear yet which other shareholders will join the movement of the putschists.

The strength of the local shareholding is insignificant. The largest institutional shareholder was 31st December Women's Movement which has good professional female managers at the helm, among them Ms. S. Ayittey and Mrs. Addo, the mother of Ms. Mona Addo Caesar who bailed out of AGC last fortnight. Ms. Addo has since formed a new treasury management company, BXV Consulting along with every single significant member of the small staff that worked under her at the AGC treasury where she was the Group Treasurer. A shrewd and ambitious capable hand, Mrs. Mona Addo is seeking a $1,500 a day contract with AGC and $1,000 a day for the other "senior" consultants to manage the AGC Treasury from their dining hall.

Nobody could confirm by press time whether 31st DWM had sold out its shares or not.

A huge screen of secrecy has been thrown around this conspiracy and the 31- point memorandum authored by Jude and copied to Databank and other London parties, described as co-conspirators by a local insider who claimed to be working for the group underscores the depth of the role of the Government Advisers.

A fax signed by Mr. Bucknor cautions in language reeking with conspiratorial adjectival clauses:

"We should take out all references to Management and an Emergency General Meeting (EGM)Y".

"It is risky at this point to have a document floating around Accra on this issue".

Jude and Co. have also counselled the Government to go on the offensive but operate like a submarine, that is, go underground by refusing to match AGC in a war of words. Government must not be seen to be acting in concert with others in pursuit of such an agenda, they counselled.

Beware of journalists "looking for an angle", the government was again warned.

One of Jude's memo is copied to the third in command at Databank, Mr. Yoofi Grant who has been represented by Mr. Ofori-Atta at last month's meeting to consider AGC's financial plan.

Reached for comment by The Ghanaian Chronicle, on the plans for the emergency general meeting, the Databank boss went on record to say "It is news to me".

Both Messrs Sam Jonah and Jude Bucknor were reported to be out of circulation.

The AGC office said they were not aware of any legal action.

Chronicle, however managed to confirm the law firm that had already been given the brief with guidance from a London based solicitor from Lincoln's Inn to file the suit.

Mr. Joe Ghartey from the respected firm, Ghartey & Ghartey will have the honours to get the ball rolling.