Two executives of the General Transport Petroleum Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU) have been interdicted over the controversial deal between the Tema Oil Refinery(TOR) and Torentco.

The action which was taken by the TOR Board of Directors takes immediate effect.

One of the interdicted persons, Anthony Joojo Koomson, who is the Chairman for the Petroleum Union Senior Staff Association confirmed this on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem Monday.

Mr Koomson said they have been interdicted for disclosing vital information on the TOR-Torentco deal at a press conference.

The Board argued that, they breached the non-disclosure agreement they undertook not to disclose the details of the draft TOR /Torentco Lease and O&M agreements, citing Article 43(4) (vii) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between TOR and GTPCWU.

But disgruntled Mr Koomson contends that, the board acted in bad faith because his action was in accordance with the whistleblower Act.

“We alerted management about the shortfalls in the deal and they told us they can’t respond to the issues because the board is solely in charge. We wrote to the board and till date, they haven’t responded to us so we just had to do the needful by making the issue public,” he stated.

Mr Koomson warned the Board should not for any reason think the interdiction will gag him.

“This is the biggest mistake by the Board because it will not end her. The mandate of the board is not to micro manage management. It is management who is to take disciplinary action but this clearly shows the incompetence of the board and the fact that they do not understand their job,” he lashed out.

Meanwhile, GTPCWU has threatened an industrial action over the interdiction and the deal.

Listen to Mr Koomson in the video attached above:

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He has also categorically refuted allegations that, Torentco is his “baby” and that he is attempting to hand over TOR to another company for free.

These claims were recently published in The Herald Newspaper, which alleged that Nana Bediatuo Asante had been involved in protracted negotiations regarding the TOR State Facility.

In a swift response, Nana Bediatuo Asante’s lawyers have issued a stern rejoinder, dated November 28, addressed to Larry Dogbey, Managing Editor of The Herald Newspaper.

Bediatuo’s lawyers in the rejoinder said, “Our client does not have any dealings with the subject matter referred to supra, and the same cannot be said to be the baby of our client. Moreover, our client has not haggled with anyone for the said TOR Facility.”

The lawyers, upon instruction by Nana Bediatuo Asante, notified the Managing Editor of Herald Newspaper to desist from orchestrating false publications about their client.

“We are instructed to notify you to stop the deliberate orchestration of false publication about our client and to take steps to verify any information prior to publication in accordance with the ethics of the journalism profession and the standards of the Ghana Journalist Association” the statement added.

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He mentioned that, the Torrentco Asset Management Limited (TAML) must not be allowed to takeover the refinery because it does not have the financial muscle.

“This is a transaction that sought to hand over such a strategic national asset to a company that has not shown no financial capacity to manage such a strategic asset and yet, as if nobody cared that such a strategic national asset could be handed to a company that has shown no facial muscle or technical capacity to manage the asset. We kept talking but nobody cared until the A-G was petitioned.

“We are hoping that the ultimate result is that such a transaction will never take place and therefore we will have the opportunity to re-examine what strategic options are available to retool TOR and get it to work. We cannot have such an asset idling when there are credible business entities that can actually support the resuscitation of the company,” he said on Accra-based TV3.

The office of the Attorney General (AG) in a  Due Diligence Report (DDR) called for a reassessment of Torentco’s financial and technical capacity to undertake the proposed transaction.

“TAML has no established affiliation with Vitol or with any other company, which has the needed funds and technical capacity to undertake the Proposed Lease Transaction and without whose support TAML lacks the financial and technical capacity to undertake its obligation under the Proposed Lease Transaction.

“TAML lacks the requisite licenses and documentation to undertake the proposed lease transaction, proceeding with the project will therefore be contrary to the law. You may revert to us should you require any further clarification on the matter,” the report read.

The General Transport, Petroleum, and Chemical Workers Union of the TUC Ghana had objected to the lease agreement between the TOR and TAML.

They expressed fear that the country might be shortchanged because the Board of Directors of TOR has allegedly been compromised in the deal.

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