Selorm Branttie

Analyst, nerd, person, enthusiast, writes on my pet rants and dreams, popped up from nowhere and here i am...

[Selorm Branttie @iselorm]

@thomas_garrard You aren't just not a mathematician. You shouldn't be making decisions for anyone with this type of logic stream. You are a disaster to any enterprise

[Lewis Hamilton @LewisHamilton]

FIRST TIME IN RED

[Bright Simons @BBSimons]

Readers may recall my mentioning that a due diligence (DD) report was commissioned regarding Hans & Co, the company that won the $96 million to "decommission" (i.e. clean up) Ghana's obsolete Saltpond oilfield. I also said that the story was still developing. So, in this post, I will provide additional interesting information from the DD report.

But, first, a recap.

1. The Saltpond oilfield was in operation, on and off, between 1970 and 2015. Upon shutdown, it was necessary to seal the wells and remove the rotting offshore oil platform to prevent massive pollution and risks to marine vessels.

2. A mushroom company called Hans & Co was handpicked and awarded the job for $96 million. The company's principal qualification was the presence of politically exposed individuals such as the then Deputy Director of State Protocol to the then President of Ghana.

3. The scope of the contract was not delivered. After partial delivery, the job was abandoned on the basis that an additional $81.1 million is required to clear off the rotting platform (picture attached). Instructively, a project management company - TSB-Ensol - hired to oversee the work was not allowed to do so due to the massive political clout of Hans & Co.

[With that background, here are some matters of further interest from the DD report.]

4. For some reason, the person declared as the Chairman of the company during the negotiations with the government was not even a Director of the company. Of those presented as Directors of the company during contract negotiation, only one, Nana Forson Danso (aka Joe Forson) was an actual Director, recognised in the company's incorporation documents.

5. The stated capital of the company was $2700.

6. The Bartels family held 70% of the company, and Nana Danso/Joe Forson held 30% as at incorporation in 2017.

7. The next year, Gloria Bartels, the matriarch of the family and a "socialite" widely celebrated in the glamour magazines, incorporated the Hans Group with the husband of her daughter. Shares were split evenly. The Group then took over a number of corporate vehicles incorporated to pursue similar deals. Nana Danso, the putative CEO of Hans & Co, is not represented in this new structure.

8. None of the Directors who actually negotiated the $96 million deal in January 2022 were represented in the group structure. Effectively, the government never dealt with the ultimate owners of the company. More bizarrely, multiple senior officials supposedly in charge of the sector did not even know that the Bartels owned the company.

9. Despite a legal requirement for all companies operating in Ghana's oilfields to be registered with the Petroleum Commission (even caterers), the government team did not even bother with verifying the licenses of Hans & Co.

10. The report says that the freelance drilling supervisor, Adejumo Abayomi, that their project director, Kennedy Oham, flew in to oversee the injection of cement into the wells was not fully cleared by regulators. Neither the Environmental Protection Agency nor any of the marine regulators were involved in certifying the operations.

11. Of the four key Hans & Co personnel engaged in the contracting process, two used secondary identities. Only the Project Director, Kennedy Oham, who used to manage the Saltpond oilfield for the last operator until a massive public spat, had the remotest connection to the petroleum industry.

12. I am sorry to add to your headaches today.

[CITI FM 97.3 @Citi973]

#GhanaPolls2024: Greater Accra Region 📍

In the Ablekuma West Constituency, a pick-up truck carrying food packs was rejected by voters, who hooted at the driver and escorted them off the premises.

The occupants claimed the food was from incumbent MP Ursula Owusu for party officials. The vehicle is now parked outside. 🗳️

#ElectionBureau #CitiVerify

[Ölele Salvador🦅🇬🇭 @OleleSalvador]

🚨ICYMI🇬🇭🗳️: Allegations have emerged of pre-stamped ballot papers in Suame, Asokwa, and Nhyiaeso constituencies.
-
@metrotvgh

🦅🇬🇭

[𝐍𝐚𝐭 𝐆. 𝐓𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐡 🇬🇭 @NatGTetteh]

Currently at the Eastern Reg Police Command where ballot papers are being dispatched to the Districts. This bag containing ballot papers for Nkawkaw has all seals broken and zip tampered with. Someone should call the EC and Police to order. Nobody will steal this election.

[Selorm Branttie @iselorm]

@StatsGH Charle it's all fluff. For comparison, our major finds had 16,000 barrels as against this ones 4500 barrels test. Yaboka

[Mubarak @Mubarak_Appiah]

There was this lecturer at Knust Dr. Nkyi, who told us publicly in class to vote against NDC; and also to tell our parents to vote against NDC in 2016; bcos Npp manages the economy well.
He picketed at MoF bcos Akufo Addo has taken all his pension funds away.

[Selorm Branttie @iselorm]

This is a very beautiful advert.

[Guillaume Huin @HuinGuillaume]

Volvo posted a 3 min and 46 second ad on Instagram, shot by Hoyte Van Hoytema, the cinematographer of Interstellar and Oppenheimer.

It goes against every single rule you can think about as a social lead. Length. Format. Over-produced.

Every comment under the ad said it immediately put Volvo in their consideration set. It's fucking fantastic.

[Selorm Branttie @iselorm]

@Mike_Amanpene @BBSimons I always say most NPP supporters in Ghana are actually socialists.

[BONGO IDEAS ™ @BongoIdeasHQ]

As Ghanaians, if we do not demonstrate against this scam of a metre, we are finished. Ghc500 gone in 3 days? You guys are thieves!

[Selorm Branttie @iselorm]

@KwabenaOA What's happening?

[Joy 99.7 FM @Joy997FM]

"The government seems to be interested in making people so poor that any little populist freebie should be something that is valued."

- Imani VP, Selorm Branttie breaks down the result of the government's management of the economy. #JoySMS

[Selorm Branttie @iselorm]

@HabibLooksharp @ImaniAfr We are revered because we speak the truth and don't fear the NPP. The average teacher or civil servants real salary has reduced by over 30% due to mismanagement and most Ghanaians who trusted our treasury system have their savings wiped out. Isn't that knowledge worth sharing?

[Gabby Otchere-Darko @GabbyDarko]

VOTE FOR CHANGE; NOT INTERCHANGE!

[Joe Randazzo @YankeeLibrarian]

Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock’s SNL bit when Donald Trump won in 2016 holds up still.

I’m shocked this many people are shocked.

[WithAlvin 🇬🇭 @withAlvin__]

Ghanaians gather here. Are you guys also experiencing this? 👀

[Selorm Branttie @iselorm]

@TheAgyemangDuah @PrinceTaju4 Lemme hear it. We are mostly water ya and probably some other lost roots. I also think we ate more leafy soups and some grains like fonio up north. But in the south, mostly shoots, leaves and roots like yam and a couple others. Cassava was originally called manioc

[Selorm Branttie @iselorm]

@TheAgyemangDuah @PrinceTaju4 Actually originally maize wasn't white. It was mostly purple and other darker colors. What we have today is years of breed separation. I remember as a kid ill see purple or some dark yellow maize on the cobs. Cassava too wasn't native

[Selorm Branttie @iselorm]

@al_bertoid What do you think? 😂