WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-07-30 Time: 09:00:02 Posted By: News Poster
What is the current disposition of Ghana’s oil? Would it come on stream in December as promised? Are there any reasons why it may delay? Are there any conflict of interest problems? These and other questions are currently agitating the minds of many Ghanaians, especially as Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, a close advisor to Ghana’s President John Evans Atta Mills is being mentioned in all manner of accusations regarding the project.
Strategic Oil and Gas (StratOil), a company he is alleged to have an interest in is said to be involved in a $5 million deal with MODEC, a major ship building company headquartered in the Far East.
Strat Oil has served notice, amidst all the hullabaloo that it will take legal action against persons who are thwarting their “legitimate business.”
The company, according to the allegations, was paid part of the amount after it offered consulting services in the preparation of tenders for the construction of the FPSO to the consortium involved in developing Jubilee Field, Ghana’s current flagship oil producing platform.
StratOil has been in the middle of controversy following reports of IFC and World Bank investigations into circumstances under which it won the contract.
A statement issued by the company signed by Stuart Sutton-Jones, Corporate Affairs Executive said the company will take “legal steps” to protect its “legitimate business” and “It is a matter of great satisfaction to StratOil that the company could play a part in enabling the tremendous achievement of MODEC in winning a highly competitive tender and in supplying this FPSO within a time frame which is a record in the industry for such a deep water project…
It is beneficial to the Jubilee project and to Ghana that the MODEC bid was a low-priced bid that met the highest technical standards in the industry and that is enabling first oil from the Jubilee field to be achieved in the 4th quarter of this year.”
Mr. Stuart-Sutton Jones, an old time friend of NDC founder Jerry Rawlings and Mr. Tsatsu-Tsikata, was a BBC correspondent for many years and was one of the first Europeans to befriend the coup of December 31 1981.
His disclaimer and threat of legal action should therefore not be taken as an empty threat.
The Mail’s own due diligence involved cross checking from a number of official sources including the World Bank.
In response to The Mail’s inquiries at the Accra Office of The World Bank, which forwarded same to the IFC, this one line response was received: “IFC is committed to following the highest governance standards and conducts due diligence on all of its projects on an ongoing basis.”
This answer neither denied nor confirmed the accusations against Mr. Tsikata, but in diplospeak, has more or less confirmed that it is conducting some investigations into this project.
Does this point to some possible wrong-doing on the part of Mr. Tsikata, which may cause some financial loss to the state…?
Many Ghanaian media houses, including The Mail, last weekend received very serious allegations against Mr. Tsikata, former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC).
Authored by Betty Dadzie (Takoradi, Ghana) and Charles Quaye (London, Upstream Ghana), the allegations made the serious claim that due to some “corrupt” actions by Mr. Tsikata, now one of the closest advisors to Ghana’s President on the oil industry and other strategic matters, the much anticipated oil from Ghana’s Jubilee Field may not materialize as expected this year.
His accusers had this to say: “Another attempt by 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.
…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.”
All eyes are now on President Mills, to see how he would handle this one.
Original Source: 
Original date published: 29 July 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201007300365.html?viewall=1