Note: CPP’s open letter to the President on Kosmos

DRIVE OUR NATION TO ITS PLACE IN THE SUN AND FORCE THAT BULLY KOSMOS TO CLIMB DOWN Your Excellency, yours is the glorious opportunity to lay the foundation to guide our nation to a gilded age of unparalleled prosperity. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah said, “…Seek ye the political kingdom and all else shall be added unto you…” Your Excellency, deliverance of the economic kingdom for a Better Ghana lies squarely in your lap. We have muffled numerous opportunities to attain great wealth as a nation perhaps because of not playing the trump card at the right time. Your Excellency, the right trump card at this time is the “Back GNPC Card”. A cursory glance at the success stories of Statoil in Norway and Petrobras in Brazil represent the aspirations of GNPC as a model for managing our valuable natural resources. Statoil ASA founded in 1972 was owned by the Government of Norway. The political motivation was Norwegian participation in the oil industry on the continental shelf and to build up Norwegian competency within the petroleum industry and thereby establish the foundations of a domestic petroleum industry.YourExcellency, with resolute determination they have achieved their goal. Despite mergers and changes over the years as well as being listed on the Oslo and New York Stock Exchanges the Norwegian Government still owns 62.5% of the company and Statoil is Norway’s largest company employing over 25,000 people. The Brazilian Company Petrobras was created in 1953 during the government of Brazilian President Getulio Vargas, with popular support under the motto "The Petroleum is Ours!”Your Excellency, President Vargas like Dr Nkrumah received much opposition to his plan but like Nkrumah posterity now judges his vision as outstanding and inspired. Petrobras now has total assets of $133.5 billion. According to Fortune 500 Petrobras is the 34th largest company in the world and yet the Brazilian government owns 55.7% of Petrobras common shares. Your Excellency, the stories of Statoil and Petrobras show us that it is critical from a National interest perspective that GNPC is given maximum support to develop similar capacity. Your Excellency, we therefore urge you to commit yourself with all your drive, energy and enthusiasm to assisting GNPC achieve their objective with respect to the purchase of the Kosmos stake in the Jubilee field and their determination to achieve extensive deepwater capacity in the near future. Your Excellency, with GNPC as the shareholder all Ghanaians have the possibility of being shareholders in the future. This would be a scheme of singular boldness and great magnitude. Your Excellency, we know it shall not be easy, but in this endeavour you have our unflinching support. It is clear that Kosmos is a powerful, all pervasive, devious and determined enterprise accountable to no one except a handful of arrogant directors mercilessly trying to destroy all who stand in her way. This is evidenced by the diabolical infringement of GNPC’s data ownership rights, the current diversionary tactics concerning TsatsuTsikata, Stratoil and Modec and the shocking original Kosmos Petroleum agreement signed in respect of Cape Three Points which inexplicably gives Ghana billions of dollars less than other agreements such as Tullow’s Deep Water Tano Block immediately to the West.These are matters for which we must seek legal redress. Your Excellency, to celebrate Nkrumah is easy; practicing him is the problem. In this matter though,we are at your side. Your Excellency, we urge you to ignore all scheming plots and through GNPC drive our nation to its place in the sun and force that bully Kosmos to climb down. Mr President, economic mastery for the nation itself is the prize of this venture. SIGNED: IVOR KOBINA GREENSTREET GENERAL SECRETARY CONVENTION PEOPLE’S PARTY