Energy Minister Oteng-Adjei’s $32 million “Mistake”

Ibrahim Tanko – “Diaspora Business Council”

I have an enormous amount of trust in the Ghanaian people and their love for their country. I know if Ghanaians knew how bad things really are for their country, how their beloved country has gone from an international darling and a star in Africa to a virtual international investment boycott in just 16 months, they would be up in arms demanding what is going on. But Ghanaians are also like most other people. It is easy to use the bully pulpit to deceive them, and without credible information being made available to them, they are likely to believe their government. Well that ends now. My name is Akua Bonsu. And these are what II know about the secrets about the Ghanaian government that Ghanaians must know.

I begin with a simple letter written out of ego, vindictiveness, and sheer ineptitude that has now cost you and I upwards of $32 million. The author of that letter is said to be languishing in a US hospital seeking treatment, and is still holding the position of Minister of Energy. Honorable Oteng-Adjei’s haste to single-handedly cancel an agreement that passed through Ghana’s due process prior to being signed by one of his predecessors shows the degree of cluelessness of many of the officials in the current administration.

In November of 2008, GNPC awarded the South Deepwater Tano to Norway’s Aker to explore for oil. Parliament overwhelmingly ratified the agreement, which interests are allocated thus: Aker ASA (85%), Ghana government (10% with the possibility of increasing to 25% upon determination of commercial field viability), and local partner Chemu Power LTD (5%). Although Aker registered its Ghana subsidiary before Parliamentary approval, Minister Oteng-Adjei cited the Norwegian company’s agreement as failing to meet the legal requirements, namely registering a subsidiary in Ghana, as his reason to terminate the agreement in a January 2010 letter to Aker. The letter also committed to reimbursing all investment expenditures to Aker, which now stands roughly at $32 million.

My investigation has revealed the real reasons behind the termination of Aker’s agreement. They begin with a gentleman by the name of Nick Amarteifio. When the new Kufuor administration elected not to renew the Malaysians’ contract for nearly running out telecommunication systems to the ground, Mr. Amarteifio is the one who brought in Telenol to replace them. The NDC has, thus suspected Amarteifio as being behind the Malaysians’ malaise, which also represented a disruption of a major source of funding for some members of the NDC. It did not help that Amarteifio is said to be “close” to former president Kufuor. In fact, a source at Aker acknowledged that their officials were promised by this NDC government that their agreement would be safe if they “dumped” Amarteifio. It did not also help that one of Aker’s main competition for the South Deepwater Tano block was Anadarko Energy, whose links with Tsatsu Tsikata is well known. Thus essentially, Anadarko unduly influenced the NDC government to use its usual sinister tactics to take from a perceived enemy and give it to a friend. But this vindictiveness will cost Ghana over $32 million, well-earned investor confidence, and shown our status as a cash strap nation.

As I write this article, the energy minister has privately conceded that he made a mistake, but has also said he will never concede that in public. Here again, personal ego is clouding his judgment, and the consequence goes far beyond the $32 million financial loss to the state. The international investor confidence that Ghana worked hard to build over the years is now in serious jeopardy. Our credit rating has fallen to ‘C’ from ‘B+’ in just 16 months. As a result, no one would give us the $32 million to reimburse Aker. And Anadarko, the catalyst behind Oteng-Adjei’s letter, has not retreated from its earlier stance of wanting that block leaving the government embarrassed.

As expected, Aker was preparing to fight the unconstitutional decision made by the energy minister. But between January and now, in a surprising turn of events, Aker has dropped all plans to fight the Ghana government and is demanding their $32 million investment expenditure back. It is widely suspected that the 3-D seismic that they have acquired yielded little promise, and thus has made the calculation that it is financially safer to recoup their investment and move on rather than investing more to drill a less promising block.

Absent of Oteng-Adjei’s letter, not only would Aker be compelled to drill the assigned block, it would also be required to share all data with GNPC and leave town with no reimbursement of their investment. And now, Anadarko is in no hurry to pick up the South Deepwater Tano because it suspects Aker’s surprising decision could mean unfavorable seismic data. Furthermore, Ghana has no way of finding $32 million to reimburse Aker.

The questions that Ghanaians must ask their government are as follows: how can one official, who is not even a Member of Parliament, overturn a decision made by 230 freely elected Parliamentarians? Why did Oteng-Adjei not consult with the right person to know the ramifications of his decisions? Whatever happened to the internationally known and recognized understanding that governments are supposed to keep their agreements, especially when they are made through the due process? And why is Parliament, which is supposed to be an equal arm of government not holding the executive accountable for honoring decisions that it has made?

For sixteen months, I have dug very deeply into the modus operandi of this administration. The rotten and despicable manner in which officials of this administration operate will come as a shock to Ghanaians who entrusted their destiny in them. Today it is Oteng-Adjei; others will come next, and collectively, they will reveal a dangerous pattern of behavior that all but ensures Ghana’s destruction.