Arthur, Wilson Responsible for GNPC's Investments

(From Ghanaian Chronicle - AAGM)
Byline: Florence Gbolu
The former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, last Monday told the Accra Fast Track Court (FTC), trying him on charges of causing financial loss to the state, that Mr. Jude Arthur, representing Investments Holdings Limited (IHL) - Trustees and Jim Wilson were responsible for protecting the interest of GNPC in Valley Farms. According to the former GNPC boss, who was continuing his defense before the court, he believed the things Mr. Arthur, then a worker at Merchant Bank, told him because he (Jude Arthur) was the Chairman of the Board of Valley Farms Limited. He told the court that he neither saw nor received a finalized shareholders' protocol, which was signed by all the parties. Led in evidence by his counsel, Prof. E.V.O. Dankwa, Tsikata stated before the FTC, presided by Justice Henrietta Abban, an Appeal Court judge, sitting as an additional High Court Judge, that he saw the draft copy of the document, but not a finalized one. When asked to differentiate between African Project Development Facility (APDF) study on valley farms and that of Caisse Francaise de Development, he said, the appraisal was very detailed whilst the APDF appraisal had detailed cash flows on the project. He said they had Sensitivity Analysis of world market prices of cocoa and Economic Analysis that showed the viability of the project. He averred that the arrival of the company focused on the quality of Cocoa of Ghana, since it attracted high premium on the world market. He said further that according to the study, cocoa investment in Ghana was a low risk venture, because of the high profile of Ghana's cocoa. During the last sitting, Mr. Tsikata, backing his evidence with documentary proof, noted that a sub-committee was set up as a result, to find ways and means of enabling GNPC finance crude oil importation. According to him, interest charges then levied by the Bank of Ghana, where the corporation had its account, was being contested in order to prevent losses to the GNPC, as the bank's interest requirement did not favour the corporation. Tsikata further indicated with documentary proof that the board of GNPC discussed issues relating to the responsibility of the corporation in importing crude oil and refining oil, as well as looking for the money to undertake the job. The former GNPC boss is standing trial on three counts of causing financial loss to the state and one count of intentionally misapplying public property by illegally guaranteeing a loan of 5.5 million French Francs from Caisse Francaise de Development, a French company, to Valley Farms, a limited liability company. He is further accused of using a total amount of 20 million belonging to the company for acquiring shares in the French company, when he was in office. Valley Farms, subsequently defaulted in the payment of the loan and GNPC, as guarantors, settled the debt, when it was requested to do so upon default of payment by Valley Farms, prosecution alleged. Tsikata has pleaded 'not guilty' to all the charges, and is on a 700 million self-recognizance bail. Sitting has been adjourned to November 11, 2005. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com