Merchant accuses Engen Ghana

The management of Merchant 2000 Limited is accusing management of Engen Ghana Limited for breaching an agreement the two parties signed without exhausting all the avenues available.

According to them, Engen Ghana took the law into their own hands by going to the extent of locking facilities it gave to Merchant 2000 under the agreement on Thursday, December 4, 2008, without going through the due process of law.

Chief Executive Officer of Merchant 2000, Nana Worae Wiredu narrating the impasse said that the company signed a business agreement with Engen Ghana to commence business in July 2006 to run through a period of five years.

According to him, under agreement, his company was authorized by licence to sell and market Engen products as well as to, inter alia, generally manage and administer the quick shop and fast food facility at its premises on the Kojo Thompson Road.

He said under the said the main conditions of the said licence agreement, minimum monthly quantities of the product were to be supplied and retailed to the general public Adabraka.

He contended that under the agreement, Merchant 2000 was given an unrealistic target on fuel sales at the station, which his company could not achieve because there were constant shortages of fuel in the underground tanks.

“When we took over the place, the first condition was to advertise the station. Engen also sold the electricity meter to us. We completed the whole place with floor tiles and other things worth about $ 50, 000, whereas Engen Ghana has not put in any investment in the fast food joint”, he emphasised.

Nana Wiredu stated that before Merchant 2000 took over the operations of the filling station, sales were nothing to write home about, but with the take-over, sales shot up extremely.

He, however, noted that in a bid to meet the target, they had to give credit to corporate institutions such as the banks, but it was later realized that they were not breaking even since payment was not prompt and as such, had to stop such a practice and this he said, affected sales.

The CEO alleged that what was worrying was the fact that the Area Sales Manager of Engen Ghana, Frank Kyei brought in some business plan which he claimed to be very good for his (Nana Wiredu’s) business and took $500 from him, but only to realize that it was not the case and thereby wondered how the same person would go round and then make things difficult for them.

Nana Wiredu stated that the Managing Director of Engen Ghana, John Mensah Bonsu was notified about the shortages, where they were asked to put it into writing, which he claimed was done, saying that after the writing, the response they could get from him was that the underground tank had been tilted.

He contended that due to the recurrent shortages in the fuel sales, Merchant 2000 lost huge sums of money, stressing that the company had so far invested over GH C200, 000 in the project, only to be written to by management of Engen Ghana to abrogate the agreement since they were not breaking even.

According to him, when he received the notice, he and his team agreed to give back the filling station and the mart business to Engen Ghana so that Merchant 2000 would maintain the fast food, restaurant and the lube.

He said whilst waiting for appraisal report, all they heard was that the lawyers of Engen Ghana had asked that Engen Ghana should lock the place.

The CEO added that under the agreement, Merchant 2000 was to pay eight percent of gross monthly sales at the fast food and the mart, but since Engen could not repair the tilted tanks, the former could not afford to pay the said amount.

“Even though the five-year contract has not ended, Engen is demanding that we hand over the operations of the station with the option of paying the amount invested so far and the gross profit of the remaining period of operation to us which is contrary to the agreement”, he said.

Nana Wiredu indicated that instead of solving the problem on hand, management of Engen rather locked the premises for hours where some workers at the fast food joint were put under emotional torture for locking them inside.

He said management of Engen claimed that they were given directives to lock the premises by its lawyers.

The CEO stated that following the disturbances, the matter was reported to the Adabraka police who in turn said it was unlawful for Engen Ghana to behave that and as such, asked Merchant 2000 to unlock the place, because they had no warrant to act that way.

To avert any tension, Nana Wiredu has therefore challenged Engen Ghana to go through the due process to ensure that things are done at the rightful manner, saying that if Engen believes it has a genuine case then it should go through the due process.