Tsikata’s Corrupt Practices To Delay First Oil?

World Bank Launches Investigations!!!!!!

By Betty Dadzie (Takoradi, Ghana), Charles Quaye (London) Upstream Ghana

The inordinate greed of one person who has single handedly caused more harm to Ghana than any living individual has been exposed, with monumental consequences to Ghana’s economy. Ghanaians may now have to wait until 2012 before the oil starts flowing because of Tsatsu Tsikata’s alleged corrupt practices.

Very reliable sources at the Osu Castle (Accra) as well as the World Bank have revealed that Tsatsu Tsikata has received various sums of monies totaling $2 million through Strategic Oil and Gas (SOG), a company that is 50% owned by Tsatsu, in the award of the FPSO contract by MODEC of Japan. According to the source at the Osu Castle, a total amount of $2 million has already been paid to Tsikata in installments as follows: the first $750,000 was made on March 31, 2009, another $750,000 was paid on July 24, 2009 and the final payment of $500,000 was made on April 30, 2010. The remaining $3 million will be paid at the pump of first oil.

In his attempt to beat the bidding process and make it appear legitimate, Tsatsu Tsikata is alleged to have back-dated the signing of the agreement to June 4, 2008, a time this felon was in prison. Another attempt by ex-convict Tsikata to evade thorough due diligence was to present his contract as the last required documentation to the World Bank recently. But at long last the watchful eyes of officials at the World Bank spotted the anomalies. Tsatsu Tsikata’s massive corruption scandal has been exposed and all Ghanaians must now pay a price by having to wait until 2012 for the first oil to be produced.

At this point, what is conclusive is that evidence of payments to Tsatsu Tsikata has been established. In addition, the IFC/World Bank is currently investigating whether the award of the FPSO contract was done in a fair and transparent manner devoid of undue influences. The investigation is also looking into areas such as the owner of the other 50% of Strategic Oil and Gas and the nature of services provided vis-à-vis the award and the amount of the contract.

As a result of Tsikata’s shady connections to the award of the MODEC contract, the signing of MODEC’s financing deal for the Kwame Nkrumah FPSO has been delayed to complete the investigation. That’s not all; the Multinational Insurance Guarantee Agency (MIGA) has suspended the insurance coverage of the super tanker, which means the oil production cannot begin. If the IFC/World Bank finds any wrong doing in the award of the FPSO contract they will withdraw their funding which will likely lead to the other banks doing the same.

By the statute of the World Bank, it cannot condone shady deals and corrupt practices, therefore if the World Bank pulls its finances and the other partners follow suit, the tragic consequences for Ghanaians is that the FPSO will leave Ghana and the project will be delayed with no first oil for at least two years if a new vessel has to be built.

Fellow Ghanaians, the question we must ask ourselves is how can those who have never been elected by the people nor vetted by Parliament, wield such massive power over the President’s cabinet and do such damage to our collective fortune as a nation? These radical elements never participate in the electoral process and never pass up the opportunity to make populist claims of helping the poor. Yet they operate behind the scenes and scoop everything they can get their hands on to amass illegal wealth at the expense of the very foot soldiers who made it possible for them to be in government. This monkey-dey-work-baboon-dey-chop syndrome must stop if Ghana is to have a chance of moving forward.

To understand the sick and greedy world in which Tsikata lives is to understand the following:

First, he led GNPC for 15 years during which not a drop of oil was ever discovered, but Ghana’s money was wasted in gambling initiatives such as derivatives. Tsikata used these arrogant, know-it-all set of mentality to keep away any credible exploration companies. A new era came in and in less than eight years, Ghana discovered oil in commercial quantities using laws that were written during PNDC era Tsikata comes in and unnecessarily question the tenets of the Petroleum Agreements that brought the oil, and which he himself used to sign. His greed has led him to champion a cause that seeks to block the entry into our infant industry by world class operators and rather hand our precious asset to the Chinese who are notorious for mismanaging energy After these recent revelations, it is now apparent that Tsikata is not only unworthy of making energy-related decisions on behalf of Ghana, he is illegally acquiring extensive wealth at the expense of suffering Ghanaians.

Ghana has been blessed with oil to help alleviate the suffering of Ghanaians and make our nation a prosperous one. How can we sit back and allow one person without any mandate, and who is a convicted felon, to mortgage our fortunes to satisfy his personal greed? If we do not stand up as a nation to face rogues like Tsatsu Tsikata in the NDC administration, the mismanagement of oil resources that happened in other places will be a child’s play as compared to what is about to happen in Ghana.