Minkah-Premo Law Firm denies involvement in GNPC’s JOHL registration in Cayman Islands

The law firm of Minkah-Premo & Co., also known as Akosombo Chambers, has categorically denied having anything to do with the Jubilee Oil Holdings Limited (JOHL) in the Cayman Islands, which is supposedly owned by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

The Accra-based law firm, in a statement sent to The Herald in reaction to last week’s publication titled “John Jinapor blows alarm on Ken Ofori-Atta” on Friday, June 2, 2023, in which it was mentioned as having registered JOHL, an offshore company in the Cayman Islands.

“We would categorically like to state that our law firm, Minkah-Premo & Co. (also known as Akosombo Chambers), has never registered or caused to be registered an offshore company known as Jubilee Oil Holdings Limited (otherwise known as JOHL) in the Cayman Islands or anywhere else for that matter. As a law firm, we also have no knowledge of the transaction purportedly involving JOHL, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, and/or any other entities or individuals”, portions of the rejoinder said.

The Herald’s managing editor has made contact with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the law firm, who is also the partner in charge of the Mines, Energy and Power team, Justice Kusi-Minkah Premo, to express its sincerest apology to him and the law firm in particular for any misimpression that the publication created about their work.

It was pointed out to Mr Kusi-Minkah Premo that The Herald, in its work on JOHL, did not find anything fraudulent or criminal on the part of the law firm, which was only mentioned in connection with the sale of 7 percent interest in the Deep Water Tano (DWT) and West Cape Three Points (WCTP) to the Government of Ghana after negotiations with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Anadarko West Cape Three Points (Anadarko) and Kosmos Energy Holdings Limited (Kosmos).

The law firm of Minkah-Premo & Co., also known as Akosombo Chambers, was only mentioned as the lawyers of Anadarko, who lawfully facilitated the transfer of the 7 percent interest valued at US$164.8 million to the Government of Ghana through the offshore company, JOHL, a subsidiary of GNPC.

Despite the recent concerns raised over Freddie Blay, the Board Chairman of the GNPC’s attempt to sell a 50 percent share of JOHL to the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA) leading to a dirty boardroom wrangling between him and the Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, we, on The Herald do not suspect or have the faintest inclination to believe that the law firm of Minkah-Premo & Co. aka Akosombo Chambers, was involved in anything illegal in the transfer of the 7% shares from Anadarko to the JOHL upon hearing its name.

With that said, and as we continue our investigation, we wish to render an unqualified apology to the law firm for failing to do additional crosscheck by speaking with its CEO on any ties to the transaction, despite the advice from a Senior Partner of the law firm, whom he had spoken to because his name was being associated with JOHL; a charge he vehemently denied.