The Minister of Energy who tasked a committee to investigate the issue subsequently cleared BOST and its Managing Director, Alfred Obeng Boateng of wrongdoing citing a Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) and National Security report.

But some Ghanaians especially the Minority in Parliament complained that it was a cover up.

Below is an infographic summarizing the scandal:

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By: Joy Notoma & Mawuli Tsikata/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Major players in BOST contaminated fuel saga [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to IMANI, the report by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) clearing BOST of any wrongdoing as announced by the Minister of Energy, is not only baffling but “juvenile” and “delinquent.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”0Iw0CNHhZDV6r8C7E82q160h2kmK0CzY”]“This whole mockery of governance can be made clean again by a singular act of the President for fresh inquiry into the activities of BOST in the last 8 years, and all persons liable for fuel fraud to be held accountable. But we want immediate answers to the present fraud. It is simply early in the day for a new government with boundless optimism,” a statement signed by President of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe stated.

BOST had been widely criticized for selling 5 million litres of contaminated fuel to two unlicensed companies, Movepiina and Zup Oil, which were allegedly set up few days before the sale making Ghana lose about GHc 7 million in revenue.

The Energy Ministry subsequently set an investigative committee to look into the mater.

However, the Minister, Boakye Agyarko, on Tuesday cleared BOST and its Managing Director, Alfred Obeng Boateng of any wrongdoing citing a BNI and National Security report.

“The investigations so far carried out by the state security agencies and the NPA show that on the basis of previous practice, there was no wrongdoing at BOST on the sale of the 5 million liters of contaminated products,” he added.

But IMANI in its statement argued that, clearing BOST of any wrongdoing is a “mockery of governance”  and a “bastardization of our institutions by politicians.”

“This whole saga is the clearest example yet of bastardisation of our institutions by politicians. How a supposedly competent committee set up by the energy ministry got railroaded and trumped over by the  BNI baffles all observers of our democracy. At worse, were the BNI justified to intervene, their conclusions are at best juvenile and delinquent,” he added.

Gov’t, BNI covering up contaminated fuel saga – Minority 

The Minority had accused the BNI of covering up the alleged rot at BOST over the sale of the 5 million litres of contaminated fuel.

Addressing the press in Parliament on Tuesday, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, indicated that, they will stop at nothing to expose the alleged rot at BOST.

“The mere selling of contaminated oil matter to motorists, the mere admission of the regulator, the NPA to the extent that they were unaware and they had not licensed a particular entity also raises major issues as to which entity, registered or not registered that the state should be dealing with. The BNI would have to come public to share with us what they have investigated and what their findings are and not just a mere statement to the effect that the Minister should dissolve his committee,” Haruna Iddrisu added.

Below is IMANI’s full statement:

IMANI’s Statement of Support for Fresh Enquiry into the Fuel Fraud Saga

Sadly, there are inconsistencies in the accounts of the energy ministry, the National Petroleum Authority and the state owned bulk oil storage company, BOST, over the fuel fraud saga.  The attached open letter addressed to the President and also sent to me anonymously, gives some rather damning reasons for chain of errors.

What is clear from the varied accounts we have so far is that;

1. The regulator, the NPA, was kept in the dark about the shady deal until very very late in the day so its account for the most part, unfortunately does not count.
2. Close to 300,000 litres of deliberately contaminated fuel had been released onto the market and all relevant authorities in the trade are aware of it.
3. That the companies involved have no licenses and mandate to operate in the trade, illegal trade actually.
4. This whole saga is the clearest example yet of bastardisation of our institutions by politicians. How a supposedly competent committee set up by the energy ministry got railroaded and trumped over by the BNI baffles all observers of our democracy. At worse, were the BNI justified to intervene, their conclusions are at best juvenile and delinquent.
5. This whole mockery of governance can be made clean again by a singular act of the President- fresh inquiry into the activities of BOST in the last 8 years and all persons liable for fuel fraud be held accountable. But we want immediate answers to the present fraud. It is simply early in the day for a new government with boundless optimism.

Respectfully yours,

Franklin Cudjoe

Founding President & CEO, IMANI

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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According to him, the contaminated fuel and its controversial sale were deliberately orchestrated by some individuals to make money off the state.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PeEn8GYE0YJ1H8pyigsy8h9KUWOJML2L”]Speaking on Citi FM’s news analysis and current affairs programme, The Big Issue on Saturday, he said the incident was similar to other acts of organized crime in different parts of the world.

“Somebody must have been engaged in this whole fuel fraud and somehow it needed to be offloaded and a company has been set up not properly incorporated and we have decided to reduce that value of whatever has been contaminated deliberately, I don’t think it was a mistake. This fuel fraud is an organized crime. It is not just in Ghana…Don’t ever think these things are done by mistake,” he said.

It emerged last week that the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation company (BOST) signed a deal to sell about 5 million litres of contaminated fuel to Movenpiina Energy and Zup Oil at a discounted price that could result in Ghana losing about GHs7 million in revenue.

Energy sector analysts, Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) said that BOST exhibited unwarranted discretion in the award of the contract to Movenpiina but the management of BOST in a rebuttal said its decision to sell off the contaminated or off-spec products to Movenpiina was the most prudent considering the potential loss of revenue.

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) later announced that the Movenpiina and Zup Oil were not licensed to operate in the oil and gas sector.

The Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko has constituted an 8-member investigative committee to look thoroughly into the matter amidst calls from different groups including ACEP and the minority in parliament for the Chief Executive Officer of BOST, Alfred Obeng to be interdicted.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post BOST fuel was deliberately contaminated – Franklin Cudjoe appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The rot under Kwame Awuah-Darko left a close-to-$300 million debt, according to BOST.

[contextly_sidebar id=”LjPk8L1YFq6yaVLklRUyWDc39NB6N9Pm”]Following Citi News making known claims to the effect that, Ghana lost about GHc 7 million in revenue following attempts by the BOST to sell contaminated fuel to some oil marketing companies, there have been calls for the current BOST Managing Director, Alfred Obeng Boateng to be interdicted over the whole controversy.

The Minority in Parliament, who are leading the charge went further to say the circumstances under which 5 million litres of contaminated fuel was dubiously sold has led to a 14.25 million cedis financial loss to the state.

But in a statement, BOST insisted these issues were coming to light to frustrate the attempts by the current BOST Managing Director to address the financial rot at the company.

“The Minority’s assertion that the MD of BOST should be interdicted is baseless and unfounded. It is a political plan to divert the new MD’s attention from dealing with the rot of his predecessor, Mr. Kingsley Kwame Awuah-Darko, which has left BOST with a debt close to $300,000,000.”

This rot, according to BOST, includes the diversion of GHc 40.5 million of company funds to a fictitious account currently under investigation.

BOST added that, there was the awarding of an overpriced contract of $39 million to construct the BOST head office complex and the awarding of another overpriced contract of $19 million to construct a pipeline from APD to Akosombo, both of which have been suspended.

Following this, the National Petroleum Authority, (NPA), confirmed that the two companies alleged to have purchased the over 5 million litres of contaminated fuel from BOST, Zup Oil and Movenpinaa Energy, were not licensed to engage in that transaction.

Find below the full BOST statement

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to the NPA, it will take legal action against the firms, while it conducts further investigation to determine the actual quantity and quality of the products received.

Below are the initial findings of the NPA

1. BOST had at their premises, 5 million litres of an off-spec product. This is alleged to have resulted from BOST accidentally discharging gasoline into a diesel storage tank wich already contained some diesel sometime in January 2017.
2. The tank containing the off-spec product was subsequently isolated from normal marketing and sales operations whilst investigations into the incident was initiated by BOST.
3. Based on the recommended disposal options by a Committee that investigated the incident, BOST opted to sell off the off-spec product to a company known as Movenpinna Energy.
4. Subsequently, BOST notified the Ghana Revenue Authority of their intention to dispense of the 5 million litres of the off-spec product from its storage. The process of evacuation commenced on 20^th June, 2017. So far, the quantity of the off-spec product evacuated from the depot is 471,00 litres as indicated below:
   • On 20th June, 2017: 240,000 litres was evacuated
   • On 21st June, 2017, 231,000 litres was evacuated (the stated quantities were loaded into ten Bulk Road Vehicles)
5. On 23^rd June, 2017, additional 380,00 litres of the off-spec product was loaded into eight BRVs at the depot. However, the dispatch of these BRVs from the depot was halted on the instructions of the NPA when information about the evacuation got to the NPA. This is because BOST failed to notify the NPA and acquire prior authorization before commencing the evacuation of the off-spec product. Officials of the NPA visited the BOST depot on 27^th June, 2017 and confirmed that the 8 BRVs were still stationed at the depot with their contents intact. Samples were taken from all 8 BRVs as well as the isolated BOST storage tank for analysis.
6. The NPA was able to discover the location where 6 of the BRVs discharged the off-spec product the carried from the BOST depot. This was made possible by the NPA’s BRV tracking system.
7. Officials from the NPA visited the location (Zup Oil) at Gulf-City, Tema on 27^th June, 2017. Documentation presented to the officials suggested that all ten BRVs were offloaded at the facility, however, this is subject to confirmation. In this regard the NPA is conducting further investigations to determine the actual quantity and quality of the products received at the facility of Zup Oil. Meanwhile, samples of the product from the tanks have been taken for analysis and the tanks sealed to prevent tampering.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post BOST contaminated fuel saga: The NPA’s key findings appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This corroborates the claim by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), which raised the alarm about the irregularities in the transaction.

[contextly_sidebar id=”B8pc6HPFFYWtCGCfcfQ92OxPUh5LRBcC”]According to the NPA, it will take legal action against the firms, whiles “it conducts further investigation to determine the actual quantity and quality of the products received at the facility of Zup Oil.”

The Authority confirmed this in a statement signed on Tuesday, by its acting CEO, Alhassa Tampuli, and copied to citifmonline.com, after its initial investigations into the incident.

“We wish to assure the general public that the NPA is keenly monitoring the situation and shall keep the general public updated on the development. Meanwhile, the NPA has intensified its monitoring activities of the petroleum products retail outlets nationwide to ensure the quality of the fuel sold to consumers is not compromised.”

“Additionally, the NPA has noted that, Movenpinaa Energy and Zup Oil are not licensed to undertake any commercial activity in the downstream petroleum industry. Their activities therefore infringes on section 11 of the National Petroleum Authority Act, ACT 691, 2005. Accordingly, the NPA will take appropriate legal action against the said companies” the NPA’s statement said.

Portions of the Authority’s initial findings also read: “Officials from the NPA visited the location (Zup Oil) at Gulf-City, Tema on 27th June, 2017. Documentation presented to the officials suggested that all the ten BVRs were offloaded at the facility. However, this is subject to confirmation. In this regard, the NPA is conducting further investigation to determine the actual quantity and quality of the products received at the facility of Zup Oil. Meanwhile samples of the product from the tanks have been taken for analysis and the tanks sealed to prevent tampering.”

Interdict BOST Director over sale of contaminated fuel – Minority

The transaction, which saw Movenpiina and Zup OIL purchase the fuel, is supposedly fraught with irregularities and possible corruption to the tune of 14.25 million cedis, as alleged by the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority group in Parliament.

The two groups have since called on the Managing Director of BOST, Alfred Obeng Boateng step aside and allow for investigations into the matter.

The Minority said BOST’s argument that the “blending of the said fuel couldn’t be done at TOR because the CDU is down is most untenable”.

The Minority also demanded the immediate withdrawal of the contaminated product from the market to protect consumers and assurances that this will not recur.

“That the financial loss estimated at GHS 14.25 million be retrieved by surcharging the offending officials at BOST in line with the recent Supreme Court decision” the minority suggested.

Background

The country is said to have lost about GHc 7 million in revenue following attempts by the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) to sell contaminated fuel to some oil marketing companies.

Documents sighted by Citi News indicate that BOST agreed to sell about GHc 5 million litres of the contaminated fuel to Movenpiina Energy.

The documents indicated that as at Wednesday, June 21st, 2017, BOST had agreed to sell off an estimated 186,000 litres of contaminated fuel to the oil company.

ACEP’s claims

ACEP said Movenpiina initiated the transaction with BOST on 19th May, 2017, some ten days before it became a legally recognized company in Ghana.

Also, Movenpiina had not obtained the requisite license from the NPA to trade in the industry, according to the centre.

ZUPOIL LTD, the company which was named “the off-taker” was said to have a storage facility that could accommodate the volume of product, but was not known in Ghana’s petroleum industry.

Thus ACEP said it was illegal for BOST to have engaged Movenpiina and ZUPOIL LTD in the sale and storage of the off-spec petroleum product.

We didn’t err in dealings with Movenpiina, ZUPOIL – BOST

BOST, however, defended its decision to sell off the contaminated or off-spec products to Movenpiina saying the move was the most prudent considering the potential loss in revenue.

In response to this, ACEP said the management of BOST exhibited unwarranted discretion in the award of the contract to Movenpiina.

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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Companies in ‘suspicious’ contaminated fuel sale unlicensed – NPA appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.