Unionised workers of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) have vigorously defended their Managing Director, Alfred Obeng Boateng over allegations he acted in his selfish interest in the contaminated oil sale saga.
The workers say calls for the interdiction of the MD are baseless and a plot to discredit and tarnish his hard-earned reputation.
The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC-GH) has accused the MD of BOST of selling contaminated fuel, know as off-spec, to two unlicensed companies, Movenpiina and Zup oil. The Chamber claims the oil was sold at prices well below market value and that it has found its way onto the market to be sold as petrol. COPEC is consequently calling for the suspension of the MD for investigations into the issue
Preliminary investigations by the National Petroleum Authority revealed the two companies that lifted the oil did not have the license to do so. However it said there is no evidence that the product is on the market because the companies had the products still stored in their storage facilities.
The Ministry of Energy has constituted an 8-member committee to conduct further investigations into the sale.
Addressing the media in Accra on Thursday 29 June, the secretary of the unionised workers, Godfred Newton Amo, said the price per litre of the fuel sold is one of the best in the pricing history of the company.
The group added that the sale of off-spec products is not new to the operations of BOST. There have been previous sales in 2014, 2015, and 2016 in the same manner without any problem, and wondered why this particular one is receiving so much unwarranted attention and unsubstantiated claims.
They are also calling on the Energy ministry to dissolve the committee setup to probe the saga.