If you can't match his achievements, you just have to tear him down, Ghana style. To those who want to know why these characters hate Tsatsu Tsikata so much, read this piece by SAM JONAH (no NDC lackey), written way back in ... read full comment
If you can't match his achievements, you just have to tear him down, Ghana style. To those who want to know why these characters hate Tsatsu Tsikata so much, read this piece by SAM JONAH (no NDC lackey), written way back in 2009.
SIR SAM JONAH, SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 – DAILY GRAPHIC
I have followed with keen interest the news of a commercial oil find in Ghana and the optimism that it has engendered in the country.
There is a welcome buoyancy in the mood of many Ghanaians as they look forward to being an oil-producing country.
There are many people and institutions that deserve credit for the oil find — members of staff of the GNPC through to its present staff and of course to the public that patiently supported the difficult, protracted but unavoidable exploration effort.
There is indeed enough credit to go round.
I cannot therefore help being disappointed that amidst all the celebrations, no mention is made of the pioneering role of Tsatsu Tsikata.
When I compare the exciting prospects generated by the discovery with the state of affairs 20-odd years ago, I am reminded of the contrast between the situation of the mining sector before and after the implementation of the reforms of the mid-1980s.
I first joined the board of the Minerals Commission in September 1984. At that time, the mining sector was in a parlous state.
As a result of the work done by a few dedicated people under the leadership of Kofi Ansah, the sector was completely transformed in less than a decade.
In the mining sector, we at least had the benefit of over 100 years of mining and considerable technical expertise.
The oil sector in the early 1980s did not enjoy any such stature. I recall the scepticism with which prospects of Ghana finding oil in commercial quantities was greeted at the time.
I remember in 1985, while on a trip to the U.S., asking a chief executive of one of the major oil companies why they were not showing interest in searching for oil in Ghana.
His response was that their geophysicists had told them that our geological structures were too tight and too badly faulted to host significant reservoirs.
Today, we know just how wrong those geophysicists were. One man who defied the prevailing scepticism of the time and, with a persistence bordering on stubbornness, led the efforts to get us where we are today, is Tsatsu Tsikata.
Indeed, when I shared with him, shortly after it was made, the observation by the chief executive of the oil major, Tsatsu's response was: "Let's all wait and see".
Tsatsu led in the rethinking of petroleum sector policy. He led in crafting the petroleum (Exploration and Production) law that was the "investment code" for the oil sector.
He led in drafting model exploration agreements including fiscal regime and Accounting Guide that is still state-of-the-art 20 years later.
He led in the development of a specific Petroleum Income Tax Law.
Beyond this intellectual and professional contribution Tsatsu emerged as a corporate leader — building GNPC itself from the ground up.
His vision was sufficiently infectious to attract even hard-nosed oil men to work on Ghana's potential, often with very little reward.
However, it is in his identification, recruitment and promotion of local talent that Tsatsu truly excelled.
He was truly passionate about building the capacity of Ghanaian professionals in the sector.
Companies and government's that had dealings with GNPC were pressured into funding scholarships and providing or funding attachments for GNPC staff and even staff from related MDAs.
Tsatsu foresaw that this investment would in its own way be as valuable to Ghana as any oil find. And history has proved him right.
Today, even before the first oil has flowed, Ghana has a solid cadre of industry professionals ready, given the opportunity, to lead us into the next phase of oil industry development.
We have seasoned exploration geologists and geophysicists, drilling engineers, field development engineers.
We have specialised market and financial analysts and lawyers. In the late 1980s GNPC was already developing boat and helicopter services expertise for production operations. In the 1980s (20 years before the West African Gas Pipeline and before climate change became a global preoccupation), GNPC was training staff in the economics and management of natural gas.
Tsatsu was relentless, even obsessive, about the meticulous exploration of Ghana's oil potential.
He recognised that geological and geophysical data were essential preconditions for any serious effort to attract private capital into exploration efforts.
He thus focused GNPC's meagre resources on an ambitious data project.
GNPC scoured corporate and public archives around the world collecting geological and seismic materials, data and analysts from earlier exploration efforts.
GNPC then constructed the most complete database of seismic information about Ghana anywhere in the world.
Then through a joint venture with the Norwegian state oil company, GNPC seismologists began to reprocess and re-analyse this data using new technology. Tsatsu did not stop with old data.
He worked with state oil companies from Canada (Petro-Canada International), Norway (Statoil) and Brazil (Petrobras) and Nigeria (NNPC's seismic subsidiary) to acquire new data.
Through these bilateral arrangements GNPC staff became familiar with modern technology such as "3-D" seismic surveys.
Eventually, Tsatsu persuaded these collaborators to support GNPC's acquisition of the expensive computer technology to enable her Ghanaian explorationists to undertake much of this analysis in Ghana.
This in turn provided a platform for a massive upgrade of GNPC's computer technology with positive impacts on all other sectors of its work and with distinct benefits for example for Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
It was the availability of this extensive database and the challenging analyses of old data by Ghanaian geophysicists working under Tsatsu that made Ghana such an attractive exploration destination in the mid-'80s despite earlier scepticism.
It was the ceaseless interpretation and re-interpretation of the GNPC's growing geological and geophysical database inspired by and supervised by Tsatsu that identified many new prospects.
Tsatsu literally set the course of Ghana's exploration drilling for an entire generation. Those who worked with him in the sector are in a better position than I to give further details.
But I saw enough to be able to say that his investment in institution building and in exploration have contributed immensely to the recent discoveries at Cape Three Points.
For the health of our nation, for the sake of posterity and the development of a culture that recognises selfless and dedicated service, we must all acknowledge the immense contribution that Tsatsu made to the development of the petroleum sector.
It is not too late to do so
Patriot 8 years ago
Jonah himself should be jailed for his part in hedging gold prices. He collaborated with Tsatsu so there is no way he would not defend his collaborator. This is a hoax.
Jonah himself should be jailed for his part in hedging gold prices. He collaborated with Tsatsu so there is no way he would not defend his collaborator. This is a hoax.
Abeeku Mensah 8 years ago
Bokor, ok! I don't make sense but you are also a gargantuan fool and a gigantic disgrace to Ph. D. holders.
Bokor, ok! I don't make sense but you are also a gargantuan fool and a gigantic disgrace to Ph. D. holders.
OKOE 8 years ago
IF ANYBODY OR ANY INSTITUTION IS TO BE WATCHED AND SCRUTINIZED, IT HAD TO BE PARLIAMENT.
IF ANYBODY OR ANY INSTITUTION IS TO BE WATCHED AND SCRUTINIZED, IT HAD TO BE PARLIAMENT.
Prof Lungu 8 years ago
After reading the below paragraph from J.K. Bokor, no body will tell you how hypocrite and stupid fool Bokor is.
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"The GNPC has come out to clarify matters, but the fire is still ragi ... read full comment
After reading the below paragraph from J.K. Bokor, no body will tell you how hypocrite and stupid fool Bokor is.
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"The GNPC has come out to clarify matters, but the fire is still raging on, especially with Hammond’s rhetoric that the money paid to those beneficiaries was “stolen”. The GNPC’s position is that the benefits were paid out only after its Board had approved the package; and also that paying such benefits wasn’t anything strange or criminal. In effect, the beneficiaries truly deserved the package. The only concern, though, might be the timing. They should have been paid long ago but weren’t. The payments came some 15 years after the beneficiaries had left the GNPC in 2001 when Kufuor took over from Rawlings.
Here is the GNPC’s stance: The beneficiaries had served the GNPC for periods ranging between 12 and 21 years and “were removed from office in 2000 and 2001 under circumstances that did not allow for the payment of their respective accumulated separation entitlements… The Board of Directors of the Corporation, after in-depth review of the situation, concluded that the payment of the end-of-service benefits to these management personnel, who had made invaluable contributions to the development of the Corporation, is a valid obligation. The Board took the position that meeting this obligation, however belatedly, is the right thing to do”.
Abeeku Mensah 8 years ago
It takes people like K. T. Hammond to hamper development and effectively fight corruption and minimize corrupt practices in Ghana but it is worse for Ghanaians to call a hypocritical K. T. Hammond and his selective timing of ... read full comment
It takes people like K. T. Hammond to hamper development and effectively fight corruption and minimize corrupt practices in Ghana but it is worse for Ghanaians to call a hypocritical K. T. Hammond and his selective timing of events as some hero or vigilante. Did K. T. Hammond just find the information on these payments? What is it about stupidity in Ghana that attracts even the best in society? Most in the NPP talk about benefits of dual citizenship and the need to attract the best and yet we pretend there is this great distinction between employment benefit perks and ex-gratia. So K. T. Hammond and a club of the thieving bunch called members of parliament and presidential appointees can raid the national coffers but other civil servants must not be entitled to severance packages and that is alright with the vindictive and the hypocrites in Ghana.
Dr. J.K. Bokor 8 years ago
Abeeku, since you don't understand your comment is senseless.
Abeeku, since you don't understand your comment is senseless.
Patriot 8 years ago
This is bull. This has nothing to do with K. T. Hammond or Parliament being corrupt. Even if you hate K. T. Hammond you must admit he is doing a good job uncovering a crime against the state. And you will do well to prove tha ... read full comment
This is bull. This has nothing to do with K. T. Hammond or Parliament being corrupt. Even if you hate K. T. Hammond you must admit he is doing a good job uncovering a crime against the state. And you will do well to prove that the Parliament is corrupt. You are one of those cynical fools who fear and suspect politicians.
Patriot 8 years ago
The answer to your question is a big yes. Your slick tribesman is on his way to the slammer as you aptly put it. Nobody hates Tsatsu: he hates himself. He is too arrogant for his own good but he is a damn fraudster. Why did h ... read full comment
The answer to your question is a big yes. Your slick tribesman is on his way to the slammer as you aptly put it. Nobody hates Tsatsu: he hates himself. He is too arrogant for his own good but he is a damn fraudster. Why did he abandon post at GNPC after he had rendered the place completely penniless and poorly managed? He bought dilapidated equipment for oil prospecting and gambled with GNPC money. He hardly knew what he was doing when he hedged gold prices with the connivance of Sam Jonah only to bring down the selling price of Ashanti Goldfields. The list is endless, Mr. Bokor. Your paisano is corrupt and crookish to the core. Take that or croak!!!
Kwame 8 years ago
K.T. Hamound and NPP cynicism...If this money were to have been paid to an Akan NPP will not raise any issue over it. We are asking what has K.T. Hamound and NPP brought to the table call Ghana. Tsatsu Tsikata paid his due an ... read full comment
K.T. Hamound and NPP cynicism...If this money were to have been paid to an Akan NPP will not raise any issue over it. We are asking what has K.T. Hamound and NPP brought to the table call Ghana. Tsatsu Tsikata paid his due and put a lot on the table.
If you can't match his achievements, you just have to tear him down, Ghana style. To those who want to know why these characters hate Tsatsu Tsikata so much, read this piece by SAM JONAH (no NDC lackey), written way back in ...
read full comment
Jonah himself should be jailed for his part in hedging gold prices. He collaborated with Tsatsu so there is no way he would not defend his collaborator. This is a hoax.
Bokor, ok! I don't make sense but you are also a gargantuan fool and a gigantic disgrace to Ph. D. holders.
IF ANYBODY OR ANY INSTITUTION IS TO BE WATCHED AND SCRUTINIZED, IT HAD TO BE PARLIAMENT.
After reading the below paragraph from J.K. Bokor, no body will tell you how hypocrite and stupid fool Bokor is.
------------------------------------
"The GNPC has come out to clarify matters, but the fire is still ragi ...
read full comment
It takes people like K. T. Hammond to hamper development and effectively fight corruption and minimize corrupt practices in Ghana but it is worse for Ghanaians to call a hypocritical K. T. Hammond and his selective timing of ...
read full comment
Abeeku, since you don't understand your comment is senseless.
This is bull. This has nothing to do with K. T. Hammond or Parliament being corrupt. Even if you hate K. T. Hammond you must admit he is doing a good job uncovering a crime against the state. And you will do well to prove tha ...
read full comment
The answer to your question is a big yes. Your slick tribesman is on his way to the slammer as you aptly put it. Nobody hates Tsatsu: he hates himself. He is too arrogant for his own good but he is a damn fraudster. Why did h ...
read full comment
K.T. Hamound and NPP cynicism...If this money were to have been paid to an Akan NPP will not raise any issue over it. We are asking what has K.T. Hamound and NPP brought to the table call Ghana. Tsatsu Tsikata paid his due an ...
read full comment