BOST Boss Embroiled In Alleged Oil Fraud

When it spills it kills and when it stinks it requires immediate investigation says author Gordon Offin-Amaniampong.

A big test awaits the Akufo-Addo government. I’ve no idea how far this could go. It appears the president’s anti-graft signature message which he’s been trumpeting since he took the reins of power in January 7, 2017 hasn’t resonated well with some of his new appointees. Certainly some of these newly-appointed public office holders are already exhibiting a character trait and a premise that overly contradict what their Boss stands for.

And analysts believe this kind of behavior by some of his officials could bring the image of the government into disrepute and make his fight against corruption look like one that’s bound to fail as many in the past did.

What’s going on? The latest headline story in Accra isn’t a good one. It isn’t one story we should be proud of as Ghanaians given the signals it sends to the outside world. On Tuesday 26 June, the minority in Parliament expressed grave concern about the sale of contaminated fuel product to the tune of five million litres to a company known as Movenpiina by the Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Limited (BOST) Alfred Obeng Boakye.

It seems everything about the deal smacks what the NDC Minority describes as ‘dubious and ‘bizarre’. And if you think those two words are hyperbolic and only sought to twist facts, or otherwise, wait till you read the next paragraphs.

First of all how did a company that supposedly won a competitive bid to purchase oil from BOST, ended up with no telephone number and on top of that had no office. So the inevitable question will be: Who’s behind the company? It’s also very obvious you would ask: How did the person win the bid without a landed property and also managed to purchase t it on ‘Open-Credit’ sales arrangement?

That big English there ‘Open Credit’ simply means the company bought the products without paying for it and in turn sold the products to a third-party Company at 30% higher. And lest I forget, the date the company was incorporated to trade and its registration at the Registrar Generals Department also don’t match.

How could a company that was registered for example on March 19 2017 would be transporting oil two weeks before its registration?

Indeed it’s a story that has many twists. It mimics the Akan Twi well-known phrase ‘Asem Sebe’. Better translation it looks like a ship when you view it from the left flank but you’d likely see a different image from the right angle. Bottom line it’s sleazy and shady deal.

So far it looks like the opposition NDC Minority has shown its readiness to unpack all the myths and lies that seem to surround the BOST deal. At a press in Accra yesterday the group made the following demands:

They demanded the immediate interdiction of the BOST MD and a full scale investigation by the regulatory authorities into the company’s dealings. It further demanded the immediate withdrawal of the contaminated product from the market to protect consumers and assurances that this will not recur.

And last but not least the minority demanded 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.

In a desperate move to do what seems like damage control officials at BOST have debunked the allegation that the contaminated oil has ended up onto the market.

Media Relations Manager at BOST Nana Akua Adubea Obeng told Joy FM’s morning show programme that only 100,000 litres of the contaminated product had been released to Movenpiina and not 5 million as claimed by the minority.

She said the remaining 4.9 million litres is sitting in the tanks at BOST and waiting to be offloaded. Nana Akua Obeng maintained that their tracking system had shown that 100,000 litres released so far to Movenpiina is still within the tanks of the company and has not been released onto the market.

It must be noted that explanation didn’t seem to convince the Minority group.

“The justification by BOST that the contaminated products were sold for use by manufacturing companies is untenable. The norm and practice is that when contamination occurs, corrective treatments of these products are undertaken by TOR through blending,” minority ranking member of energy Armah Kofi Buah told the local media.

To BOST that contaminated fuel that had found its way into the public market is a “human error”. But energy think tank ACEP sees it differently. According to ACEP the error, has caused the country over $7million in revenue. ACEP’s executive director, Ben Boakye claims to have, unknowingly, bought a contaminated fuel with the potential of damaging his engine.

The five- million litres of oil was said to have been contaminated after diesel was mixed with Petrol.

Read the full statement below:
MINORITY IN PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR FULL SCALE INVESTIGATION INTO BLATANT CORRUPTION AT BOST LTD.

The minority in Parliament has noted with grave concern the sale of contaminated fuel product to the tune of five million litres to a company known as Movenpiina by the MD of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Limited under very dubious and bizarre circumstances in another clear example of escalating corruption in the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia Government.

Even more disturbing is the explanation offered by BOST to justify the sale of this contaminated product as well as the circumstances surrounding the sale which clearly lacks transparency and integrity.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, it must be mentioned that under proper regulatory and supervisory protocols, under no circumstance should the BOST Co. Ltd experience such high levels of contamination as we are witnessing.

The question to ask is what led to the contamination of these products in the first instance.

Why was the particular tank in question not properly discharged and cleaned before the intake of the fresh fuel which led to the contamination? Was it due to negligence, lack of supervision or a deliberate plot by some self-seeking individuals to enrich themselves at the expense of the state and the Ghanaian tax payer?

The justification by BOST that the contaminated products were sold for use by manufacturing companies is untenable. The norm and practice is that when such contamination occur, corrective treatment of these products are undertaken by the Tema Oil Refinery through blending.

Why did BOST not arrange with TOR for the treatment of this particular fuel? Available information indicates that BOST failed to exhaust all means to ensure TOR blends this contaminated fuel.

The argument by BOST that the blending couldn’t be done at TOR because the CDU is down is most untenable.

These so called off-spec products are not the slops that are usually sold by BOST, we also wish to state that SLOPS are usually in small quantities. SLOPS are sediments of fuels in a Tank and are usually in small quantities and cannot be compared with 5 million liters of contaminated fuel.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, the claim by BOST that this contaminated product was sold at a competitive ex-depot price is false and cannot be justified.

When was the competitive bidding process initiated and who were the companies that participated? Incontrovertible evidence available confirms that Movenpiina Company was the only company BOST dealt with in the sale of this contaminated product in a sole sourced transaction.

It is therefore erroneous to suggest that the sale was done under a competitive process.

Further information available to us indicates that Movenpiina Co. Lt. put in a proposal to purchase the fuel on the 19th of May 2017. Interestingly, checks from the Registrar Generals Department suggest the company was incorporated to trade and transport fuel on the 29th of May 2017.