Goosie's Evidence Against Tsikata Unsettles Prosecution

As the trial of former GNPC Chief Executive gets underway in an Accra, there are reports that the evidence of a potential star witness provided to investigators before the beginning of the trial, did not go down well with them.

The potential star witness, Augustus Goosie Tanoh, according to “The Independent” newspaper, was invited to appear before the investigating panel some time in October at the Police Headquarters and asked a series of questions on Tsatsu Tsikata’s tenure as GNPC chief.

Goosie, a former Director of Finance and Administration at GNPC, the paper learnt, shocked the investigating panel with his forthrightness and stated the facts as he knew them.

Police sources say Goosie ended up “lecturing” the panel on why Tsikata had to do some of the things he is being accused of, for the survival of GNPC.

The sources say the panel had thought that Goosie, a one-time prot?g? of Tsatsu had fallen out with him and was therefore going to flaunt the gauntlet with incriminating evidence against the former GNPC chief.

Goosie reportedly told panel that considering the circumstances under which GNPC was started in 1985 without any initial start-up capital, there was the need to invest in other ventures to enable the co-operation meets its obligations to its workers ad foreign oil companies who came to Ghana to prospect and drill oil in partnership with the co-operation.

He was said to have told the investigating team that his candid opinion on Tsatsu was that he will never go into any venture without appropriate technical advise and the necessary due diligence.

The situation, according to the Independent disappoints the panel who still bent on hauling Tsatsu before the courts moved into action last Thursday to charge Tsatsu under Section 1 (2) of the Public Property Protection Decree, SMC Decree 140.

“So hurried was the attempt to haul Tsatsu before the courts last Thursday that within a spate of 24 hours, the charges against him were changed thrice,” The Independent reports.

Police sources say the rush to charge Tsatsu has even led the prosecution to charge Tsatsu with the wrong offence under SMCD 140. According to them, the Statement of Offence as presented before the Circuit Tribunal maintains that Tsatsu is charged for causing loss by carelessness to public property contrary to section 1 (2) of the Public Property Protection Decree 1977 (SMCD 140). Section 1 (2) of SMC Decree 140 states thus: Any person who intentionally misapplies or causes loss of or damage to public property shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment not exceeding five years or to a fine not exceeding 10, 000 cedis or to both.

Tsatsu, who appeared before a Circuit Tribunal last Friday, was represented by a legal team made up of Professor E.V.O. Dankwa and Major (Rtd) R.S. Agbenoto. He was granted a self-recognisance bail in the sum of 500 million cedis.

The particulars of the offence as signed by Police Prosecutor Superintendent, Prosper Agblor states that Tsatsu, between January, 1987 and March 1991 as chief executive of GNPC through carelessness caused loss to Public Property to the tune of 2, 153, 369, 531.64 cedis.

The facts of the case, according to the Independent, involve guarantees made for investment in Valley Farms, a private cocoa farm.

Undercover investigations reveal that Messrs Arthur, then of Merchant Bank and David Addo-Ashong, also of Merchant Bank approached Tsatsu with an offer that Valley Farms, a client of a subsidiary of Merchant Bank was in the process of taking over cocoa farms being divested by the Ghana Cocoa Board for rehabilitation.

Valley Farms, was expected to introduce a new breed pf cocoa to increase production and to export for a chocolate production concern based in Switzerland.

It was learnt that it was impressed on Tsatsu that the French development Agency Caisse Francaise de Development was keen on the project after feasibility studies.

A subsidiary of the French development Agency by name Proparco, Tsatsu was further told by the Merchant Bank staff, was expected to invest in the project whilst Caisse Francaise was to provide a loan for the operations of the project.

However, Caisse Francaise de Development required a guarantor for the loan which was about 1 million dollars.

The Merchant Bank officials the newspaper said proposed that if GNPC could act as guarantor, it would obtain 25 per cent equity in the project. They also indicated that GNPC’s participation in the project could be routed through Investment Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of the Bank who would then represent GNPC’s interests.

Caisse Francaise’s interest in the project therefore became an attraction as Tsatsu had pointed out the prospects of Proparco becoming a shareholder in a number of GNPC projects, especially, the Tano Fields Development and Power project.

Subsequently, Tsatsu met with the Chief Executive of Caisse Francaise when he came to town on a visit during which the later expressed his faith in the Valley Farms project.

It also came out that GNPC had co-operated with the Ghana Cocoa Board in raising finances for Ghana’s crude oil imports.

Because of the non-capitalisation of GNPC on inception, it had to participate in a number of projects to enable it exercise is mandate. Some of the investments undertaken by GNPC under Tsatsu include TOTAL (Ghana), Tema Lube Oil Company, Unipetrol and ECOBANK.

In the case of ECOBANK, it came out during investigations that GNPC initially invested $20, 000 and reaped $11 million to support its activities when it was instructed by the past government to sell its shares in that bank.