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A whopping $2,000,000.00 (Two Million United States Dollars), secured by President John Agyekum Kufuor and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, with a Sovereign Guarantee, to rehabilitate some Ghanaian embassies, appears to have vanished without trace.
The amount was part of a $5Million loan, whose term sheet, states “shall be utilized exclusively for the renovation of selected Ghanaian Chanceries for Ghana’s 50th Independence Anniversary Celebrations.”
A statement of account on the Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning (MOFEP) bank Account number 0232002034552 with Stanbic Bank, opened for the transaction did not show a release of the $2,000,000.00 to the Government of Ghana.
The term sheet, dated December 7, 2006 addressed to the Kufuor administration through its Minister of Finance, indicates that ‘US$2,000,000.00 of the loan shall be booked with Standard Finance (Isle of Man) Limited,’ an offshore account.
Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, who was a Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, signed as accepting the terms of the $5,000,000.00 loan on behalf of the Government of Ghana.
On December 11, 2006 US$3,000,000.00 (Three Million Dollars) was released to the MOFEP Account at Stanbic Bank. This amount was repaid on April 20, 2007.
On 14th May 2007, the MOFEP account with Stanbic Bank was again debited with US$3,800,000.00, described as Loan Granted to MOFEP.
The release of this $3.8Million after the repayment of the earlier amount of $3.0Million, all within the term period of the loan made the transaction appear like a revolving loan, with a ceiling of $3.8Million.
Subsequent transactions on the statement following the release of the $3.8Million reveal the various interest charges as well as repayments made to Stanbic Bank.
The $2.0Million was never released to the Government of Ghana, and it was not clear into whose account the amount was paid in the offshore bank.
The $5Million was part of a $17Million Commercial Loan Agreement approved by Parliament on 29th November, 2006. The other $12Million of the loan was to be used for UN Peace Keeping Operations.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) subsequently requested for a disbursement of the approved loan and issued a Sovereign Guarantee to secure the entire $17Million facility.
The Sovereign Guarantee, dated 7th December, 2006 to Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited, was signed by Dr. Akoto Osei.
By a term sheet dated December 7, 2006 Stanbic Bank Ghana Ltd granted the term loan of US$5,000,000.00 (Five million United States Dollars) to the Government of Ghana.
The $5 Million and interest on it was to be repaid in full within 36 months from the date of drawdown, and had October 26, 2009 as the Final Repayment date.
As of October 31, 2009 days after all outstanding amounts on the loan account should have been cleared, however, an amount of $883,332.00 was still owed to Stanbic Bank.
Mr. Akoto Ampaw, lawyer for the Chief Executive of the Ghana@50 Secretariat, had written to the Commission of Inquiry (Ghana@50) on December 8, 2009 denying his client’s knowledge of any transaction with Stanbic Bank.
In the said letter, which was titled: RE: CONTINUING INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COMMISSION OUTSIDE THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, and published by the New Crusading Guide of December 9, Mr. Ampaw complained that the Commission had written to Dr. Wereko-Brobby, ‘requesting for information in respect of a loan transaction between the Government of Ghana and Stanbic Bank Limited’ and that ‘he knows absolutely nothing about the transaction referred to in your letter.‘
According to Akoto Ampaw, ‘Neither the Ghana @ 50 Secretariat nor the National Planning Commission entered into any loan agreement with Stanbic Bank, either directly or through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.’
US oil giant, Anadarko International Oil Company, has blown the whistle on the shape of how oil exploration licenses were awarded under the NPP government, saying they and their partners, Hess, were asked to part with 5% of their stake to, ‘an unknown Ghanaian party,’ as a condition for being awarded the South Deepwater Tano block for oil exploration.
“We were informed that if we made such a strong bid, it would overcome a previous demand by then Chairman of GNPC, Stephen Abankwa, that we carry an unknown Ghanaian party for five percent (5%) something neither Hess nor Anadarko can do, given that we are both subject to the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other related US legislation,” Anadarko revealed.
Anadarko, who had put up an individual bid, alongside Hess and others, stated in a protest letter to the Minister of Energy, Dr. Joe Oteng-Adjei that the above demand, was made of them after they were encouraged by GNPC to combine their individual bids for a joint one.
The revelation was contained in a confidential letter dated February 24, 2009 and signed by Ian J. Cooling, Vice President, Business Development of Anadarko.
According to Anadarko, together with Hess, they subsequently submitted a combined bid, “but were shortly thereafter informed by Chairman Abankwa that if we did not accept the third-party carry of five percent (5%) another company, the Norwegian company Aker, had already agreed to do so and would be awarded the block.”
Anadarko said it was later informed by the then Minister of Energy, under the John Kufuor administration that the block had been awarded to another company, without telling them about how the bids fared.
“There was no transparency whatsoever in the entire bid process,” Anadarko charged, adding that “We never received a formal written notification that our bid had failed, and it was to our dismay that we learned later that Aker, had indeed been awarded this extremely complex, deepwater block.”
It was from the press and other sources, according to Anadarko, that they “learned that the Aker bid also included a third party for five percent (5%).”
ELECTIONS The US oil giant asserted that “We were upset and seriously considered at that time alerting the highest levels of the US Government and asking their intervention, but the Ghanaian Presidential election was upon us and we decided that this issue might perturb the democratic process, which we strongly support.”
The license for the block was awarded to Aker under a petroleum Agreement signed on October 24, 2008 about six weeks to the presidential and parliamentary elections. On the same day, a Service Agreement was signed between Aker ASA and CHEMU Power Ltd., a company owned by an offshore company called CHEMU Capital BVI.
Martinus Brandal, Senior Partner and President, signed on behalf of Aker ASA, while Nik Amarteifio, Executive Chairman of CHEMU, signed on his company’s behalf.
Anadarko called on the new minister to review the bid procedure and processes for the award of the block, which they believed would turn the tide in their favor.
“Now that the election is over, we are confident that you, Mr. Minister, will wish to review the bid procedures and processes of the award of Ultra Deepwater Tano Block. After such review, you will undoubtedly notice that the combined bid of Hess and Anadarko, two world-class deepwater operators with such a strong combined bid, would have been in Ghana’s best interest,” Anadarko asserted.
The company that had the five percent carried interest was Chemu Power, owned by Nik Amarteifio and Dr. Charles Mensa, both close pals of former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
DR. CHARLES MENSA
Dr. Charles Mensa was appointed by the President to serve as Chief Executive Officer of Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) during his tenure as President. Charles Mensa sparked controversy some years back when as Chairman of the University of Cape Coast Council, he conferred an Honorary Law Doctorate on then President Agyekum Kufuor, at a time when the University had no Law Faculty.
Dr. Mensa is a founder of the Institute of Economic Affairs, a governance think- tank.
NIK AMARTEIFIO Nik Amarteifio is a bosom friend of former President Kufuor, he is also the man who brought Telenor to replace Telekom Malaysia. Telenor, according to a recent government investigation criminally run down Ghana Telecom.
Kufour’s government paid Telenor a whopping $600,000 for the business plan they used to secure a Ghana Telecom management contract in response to an international advertisement inviting strategic investors to partner Ghana Telecom. Eventually, Telecom Malaysia sued the government in an international arbitration and walked away with a handsome compensation.
Nik was appointed by former President Kufuor to serve on the board of Bank of Ghana, and was rumoured to be the President’s ear on activities at the Central Bank of Ghana.
Nik’s offshore investments, which stretch from Channel Islands in the UK to his equity stock option in Canada are under investigation by The Enquirer.
STEPHEN SEKYERE-ABANKWA Mr. Stephen Sekyere-Abankwa, who was appointed by President Kufuor to serve as GNPC Board Chairman, remains a very close pal of the former President Kufuor. He is rumoured to have served as a quiet financial advisor to the former President.
Mr. Abankwa, is currently the Managing Director of Prudential Bank Ltd in Ghana.
During the Ghana@50 celebrations, the Office the President guaranteed about $10 million for him and his partners to secure a loan facility from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to construct residential accommodation. By press time yesterday, Mr. Abankwa and his group had still not been able to pay up the loan they took from workers pension contribution. Interest on the loan has reached about 4 billion Cedis.
MOSES BOATENG When Energy Minister, Dr. Joe Oteng-Adjei, referred the Anadarko letter to the then Managing Director of GNPC, Mr. Moses O. Boateng for his response, he gave the minister what could at best be described as half-truths in a letter dated March 9, 2009.
Mr. Boateng stated, for instance, that “In terms of financial and technical capabilities the two companies were found to be almost at par and GNPC would be indifferent as to which of them was eventually awarded the block.”
This assertion is not supported by the facts as a cursory glance at the track record of Aker ASA, Anadarko, Hess and Chemu, would leave no one in doubt that the two US companies, Anadarko and Hess are streets ahead of their Norwegian and Ghanaian counterparts in their technical and financial capabilities as well as all other departments of the oil industry.
Again, in a table that purported to compare the terms of the Hess-Anadarko and Aker ASA applications for the Tano Deepwater, Mr. Boateng was not forthright with the minister. He actually, matched the raw bid of Hess-Anadarko against the negotiated terms under the Aker ASA – Chemu Power agreement.
This obviously was to misrepresent to the new minister that the bid of the latter was better.
However, a review of the Petroleum Agreement signed with Aker ASA, revealed that contrary to the requirements of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Law, PNDC Law 84, the company neither registered nor incorporated a company under the laws of Ghana.
That Agreement was ratified by Parliament on November 5, 2008. But Aker ASA, got Aker Ghana Limited incorporated on October 29, 2008 with certificate of incorporation number, CA-51,646, to commence business on October 30, 2008.
Aker ASA sought to assign its interest to Aker Ghana Limited, as a means of regularizing the agreement. However, by a letter dated December 30, 2009 the Energy Minister, declined the request, since the original agreement was invalid.
According to him, “The assignment you have requested is legally impossible in view of the underlying failure of compliance with the law.”
The minister, by a copy of that letter advised GNPC to reimburse Aker ASA with costs incurred in acquiring data, since such data acquired belonged to GNPC. He notified Aker ASA that it was going to reactivate negotiations which had commenced previously with the Anadarko/Hess application.
The relevant clauses under Section 23(15) of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Law PNDC Law 84, states that a contractor (foreign company):
“which is not an incorporated company in Ghana under the Companies Code, 1963 (Act 179) shall (a) register an incorporated company in Ghana under the provisions of the Companies Code, 1963 (Act 179) to be authorized to carry out solely petroleum operations in respect of which a petroleum agreement or petroleum sub-contract has been entered into under this Law and such signatory shall be a signatory to any petroleum agreement;”
“(b) maintain an office or establishment in Ghana to carry out petroleum operations and shall have in charge of such office or establishment a representative with full authority to act and to enter into binding commitments on behalf of the contractor or sub-contractor, as the case may be; and, continues with subsection (c) that:
“In respect of such petroleum operations, open and maintain an account with a bank in Ghana.”
Companies, such as Kosmos Energy, Tullow Oil, Anadarko, Sabre Oil and Gas Holdings have all registered their companies under Ghana’s Companies Code, to facilitate their compliance with the law before entering into petroleum agreements for their blocks.
THE NORWEIGIAN CONNECTION
One shocking revelation from the GNPC boss to the Minister was that in awarding the South Deep Water Tano block to Aker ASA, they were influenced by factors such as “The Norwegian Government’s Support to Ghana in restructuring the oil and gas industry together with their support for training of Ghanaian staff” The GNPC boss further noted that “the keen interest of the Norwegian Ambassador in GNPC affairs became a plus in favor of Aker”
According to Mr. Boateng, one other consideration for awarding the field to Aker ASA was the fact that “.there were relatively too many American companies in the basin namely, Kosmos, Hess, Anadarko and Vanco,” but “There were only two European companies - Tullow and Vitol, the decision was to spread and therefore favored Aker.”
The above has generated a geo-political controversy as to whether the Norwegian government twisted the arms of the previous government in awarding the field to Aker.
Observers say the mention of the interest of the Norwegian Ambassador is akin to the controversial role played by the British Ambassador to Ghana in the sale of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone, a British telecom giant.
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| Ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor (left), Mr. Kwame Pianim (right) |
While the former President, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor, has condemned Mr. Pianim for making such a pronoucment, his party (NPP), has also issued a strong statement condemning the assertion.
Mr. Pianim however remains resolute, insisting that he still stands by his words.
The anti-corruption crusader, Mr. Colins Appiah Ofori, who is a member of the NPP, has also come out to support Mr. Pianim, that Mills is incorruptible.
Mr. Frank Agyekum, who is the spokeman for former President Kufuor, told The Chronicle in a telephone interview yesterday, that his boss was the first to come out publicly, that as a president “you are always tempted with inducements.”
It was based on this experience that he (JAK) decided to improve upon structures, including the setting up of the Office of Accountability, the declaration of Zero Tolerance for Corruption, and other institutions to combat corruption.
Mr. Frank Agyekum stated that what Mr. Pianim said, raises more questions than answers, adding that an attempt to create the impression that Mr. Kufuor did nothing about fighting corruption under his tenure, was unfortunate.
He challenged Mr. Pianim to come out and tell the whole nation those who gave the brown envelopes to President Mills, which he rejected.
“What we are asking is that was Mr. Pianim there when the bribes were offered before the President rejected them? What was his interest? Who told him? Or was he the one who gave the bribes to President Mills before he rejected them? We need to know all these. It is however not true that Mr. Kufuor did nothing in the fight against corruption.”
Mr. Agyekum, who declared that Mr. Kufuor was honest about events that surrounded his presidency, said his presidency did everything possible to make corruption very uncomfortable to all and sundry, and that for someone who was at the time a member of the party not to raise a word, but now say such curious things, was unfortunate.
“What prevented him from making such comments under President Rawlings and Mr. Kufuor? I find it curious for him to say those things. It has no basis at all,” he said.
To him, the yardstick being used by the opponents of Mr. Kufuor, when he stated that he had rejected bribes, should be used against this regime.
According to him, those who attempted to bribe President Mills, should be arrested and prosecuted.
“I have no reason to doubt what Pianim said about Mills, but what we want is that the same measure given to Kufuor when he said that he has rejected offers, should be used for this government.”
Meanwhile, the NPP has also called on President Mills to arrest the individuals who attempted to bribe him, and that he should do nothing to cover up for the people.
The party’s Communications Director, Mr. Kwaku Kwarteng, noted in a statement issued in Accra yesterday, that an attempt to bribe the President in his office, was not only unfortunate, but also a setback in the fight against corruption.
“The New Patriotic Party has been dismayed by the revelation yesterday that President John Evans Atta Mills, the highest public servant, is refusing to expose criminals who have attempted to offer him bribe.
This development is an unfortunate setback to the nation’s fight against corruption. If people have become so emboldened that they are able to walk up to the highest office of the land, and seek to offer bribe to the President of the Republic, then we are losing the fight against corruption. Such people should be exposed immediately.”
The statement continued, “It is questionable that the President failed to cause the arrest of such criminals when the incident happened. It would appear that President Mills, and the NDC government he presides over, have an unhealthy interest in protecting such criminals.
It is to diffuse such an impression that the President needs to stop shielding them, and offer them to the law, without further delay.” The NPP further argued that the President’s shielding of the wrongdoers, indicates the government’s lack of commitment to fighting corruption, opining that coming at a time of ongoing investigations into the Mabey & Johnson corruption scandal, the revelation of the President’s protection for the criminals was embarrassing to the Presidency, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, as well as the nation.
The assertions of the NPP were swiftly rubbished by the NDC, which stated that the pronouncement of Mr. Pianim was reminiscent of what informed Mr. Kufuor to award, then candidate Mills, which NPP members kicked against.
According to Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, General Secretary of the NDC, the pronouncement by Mr. Pinain about President Mills, was a statement of fact.
To him, President Mills was not like President Kufuor, who declared Zero Tolerance for corruption, and later turned round to say a different thing.
Admitting that President Mills was incorruptible, the NDC’s chief scribe made a mockery of the NPP, and urged them not to expose their ignorance in public.
The Chronicle
