SIPA YANKEY MUST GO

...Citizens' group demands
...Asks Prez Mahama to investigate Ghana Gas
President John Dramani Mahama has been asked to institute an investigation into activities of the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) following reports of alleged irregularities in the construction of a gas processing plant in the Western Region.

In order to prevent interference in the investigations, "We demand...that Dr. George Sipa Yankey be made to step aside as Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Gas, pending the institution of a high level forensic investigation into the affairs of the company," the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas (CSPOG) demanded at a press conference yesterday.
The group explained: "We make this demand because of the huge costs being recorded relative to the gas project and their ramifications for gas pricing when the project is completed," stressing that "The president must gather the political courage to deal with those that may be found culpable of any impropriety at Ghana Gas."
It is the second time in three years that Dr Yankey is facing a major call for his removal from a position he occupies following a similar call in 2009 when he was named among top government officials implicated in the infamous Mabey and Johnson (M&J) road contract bribery scandal.
He consequently resigned his post as Minister for Health in late 2009 but was cleared in June 2011 by a team of investigators from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service which was set up under the directive of the Attorney-General (A-G).
It would be recalled that Dr Yankey was, in the early 2000s, sentenced to two years imprisonment for the role he played in the controversial Quality Grain rice project in Avayime, Volta Region, while he was a director at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
Presently, the CSPOG argues that Dr Yankey appears too powerful in the wake of claims that he allegedly snubbed the Petroleum Commission and the Ministry of Energy who had made attempts to obtain details of the transactions between GNGC and Sinopec International Petroleum Services Corporation.
Dr Yankey is also alleged to have insisted that he reports to the President and not the Commission or the Ministry.
It would be recalled that Public Agenda on September 17 and 24 reported that Sinopec could succeed in short-changing Ghana by at least $140 million which had arisen from alleged transfer pricing manipulation and supply of a supposedly inferior quality gas plant to Ghana.
Gas pipelines being laid by Sinopec in shallow waters are also estimated to have a $1.6 million per kilometre extra cost compared to pipelines of the same width which were laid in deep sea by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.
In responding to the issues, Dr Yankey spoke on several Accra-based radio stations, including Citi FM, during which he strongly debunked the claims and also suggested the reports were made out of "ignorance" or mischief. He contended that he had saved Ghana over 200 million U.S. dollars during contract negotiations.
But on Thursday, the CSPOG indicated a lot of questions remain unanswered. The "more we heard him on radio, the more convinced we became that a forensic audit into the activities of Ghana National Gas Company was very necessary at this time."
It raised concern about the competitiveness of Ghana gas price. "Ghana's projected price of delivered gas to Takoradi (the sum of well head price of gas and capacity charge based on rate of returns) is put at $5.9 per MBtu according to a study by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) assuming a zero capital cost of Jubilee field development.
"The study was based on projected cost of the gas project proposed by the GNPC in the Jubilee Field Development Plan. The new developments around the gas infrastructure project executed by SINOPEC could raise the price of delivered gas even higher making Ghana's Jubilee gas not only uncompetitive but also uneconomical to industrial consumers who will be unjustifiably denied cheaper source of energy than what the West Africa Gas Pipeline Company offers - currently at $6 per MBtu," the group contended.
Consequently, it emphasised the need for a comprehensive inquiry. "We believe that, by this singular act of investigating these allegations of fraud and impropriety at Ghana Gas, the President will be sending a strong signal to the skeptics that his government is serious about fighting corruption."
The group, however, blamed the current state of accountability on the presidency's involvement in the setting up of the GNGC under the watch of late President John Evans Atta Mills.
The late President, based on the report of the National Gas Development Task Force, established the GNGC, with Dr. Kwesi Botchway as its Chairman, and Dr Yankey as its Chief Executive Officer. The GNGC was incorporated as a limited liability company and registered under the Ghana Companies Code 1963, in July 2011.
"First, we are concerned that the Ghana National Gas company Limited was established by the Presidency, with little or no involvement of the sector ministry. Such practice undermines the authority of the ministry, and is therefore regrettable," the group pointed out.
The group added: "The registration of GNGC as a limited liability company, while funding it 100% with public money is in our view an anomaly that makes it difficult for the exercise of the kind of public oversight that are the norm with public companies such as the Volta River Authority, the Ghana National Petroleum Company [sic], Electricity Company of Ghana etc."
In this regard, it recommended that the GNGC "must be restructured as a subsidiary of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) under the Ministry of Energy's oversight. This is important not only for tapping into GNPC's technical expertise and years of experience but also for enhancing the corporate profile and industry leverage of GNPC."
Story also available at http://ghanaweb.com/public_agenda/article.php?ID=17055.