The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has instructed the management of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to halt its planned partnership agreement with Tema Energy and Processing Limited.
In a letter dated November 21, 2023, and directed to TOR’s Managing Director, Daniel Osei Appiah, the OSP communicated its directive, “it has commenced an analysis of the risk of corruption in respect of the proposed partnership.”
As a result, the Office instructed TOR to provide all required supporting documentation for the proposed agreement by Tuesday, December 5, 2023, at the latest.
“You are directed to immediately suspend the proposed partnership agreement, ongoing negotiations, operations and all other ancillary activities arising out of and consequent upon the proposed partnership agreement until you are otherwise advised by the Special Prosecutor” portions of the letter said.
Find the letter below:
The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) employees have been fighting back against five of their coworkers and two board members for allegedly registering an entity called the “TOR Workers’ Charity Fund” in order to secretly acquire shares in the TOR-Torentco deal without the consent of the more than 500 workers. It is unclear what has prompted the OSP to make this decision.
The disgruntled workers claim that the TOR Workers’ Charity Trust was purportedly established to assist Torentco Asset Management Limited (TAML), now rebranded as Tema Energy and Processing Limited (TEPL), in its role as the proposed lessee for the transaction.
According to the angered employees, the TOR Workers’ Charity Trust was officially registered on August 29 of this year. They allege that two Board Members, two management staff, two UNICOF executives, and one junior staff collaborated in registering the fund as part of a larger scheme to ensure the controversial TOR-Torentco deal moves forward.
Despite the Tema Oil Refinery’s capacity to process 45,000 barrels of oil per day, its operations have faced inconsistencies. The refinery has struggled with sustained losses over the years, grappling with management crises, political interference, and challenges posed by outdated equipment.