Energy Ministry Claims NPP Sold Drill Ship And Can�t Account For Proper Documentation

Until today, it was unclear TO Ghanaians which administration sold the Drill Ship belonging to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). Earlier reports in the Ghanaian Times newspaper and Daily Graphic newspaper portrayed that the Drill Ship was sold under the current leadership of the GNPC. After the proceedings of the Judgment Debt Commission, it emerged that the drill ship was sold by the Ministry of Energy at $24million to defray a judgment debt of $19.5 to Societe Generale without the knowledge of GNPC. But Head of Communications for GNPC, Mr. Edward Bawa reveals the sale of the ship took place during the tenure of the New Patriotic Party. He explains that it is better to put the story in historical perspective and tell Ghanaians how the sale of the ship came about. In an interview with Okay FM, Mr. Bawa highlighted that there were certain imperative answers the former minister of Energy under ex-President Kufuor, Hon. Kan Dapaah has to give to clear the air surrounding the way he handed the matter. According to him, documents to attest that business transactions took place when Hon. Kan Dapaah was Energy Minister are reported missing and there are no clues to follow to show a clean business took place. He briefly explains that �somewhere in the 1990�s, GNPC appointed Societe Generale as their advisors in a business transaction. At one point, Societe Generale made certain claims against GNPC and the latter contested it. And this brought about a legal tussle between the two. This made GNPC call on an international law firm to defend them in the case� but when a the NPP administration took over in 2000, the then minister for energy Mr. Albert Kan Dapaah, managed to part ways with the law firm and handled the issue at the ministry. Till date, the GNPC hasn�t heard anything about the matter.�