Another illusion abides, however, concerning Malgam in particular. Malgam’s CEO, Roger Calmy-Rey, son of renowned Ulysses Calmy-Rey, has given the impression that the company is committed to preserving the environment, the fishing industry, and the livelihood of the coastal peoples. With his successful promotion of the highly polished public image of his company, Mr. Calmy-Rey is lauded for aspiring to his father’s lofty ideals of humanitarian oil exploration and production.
Yet, last year when an oil spill occurred and killed millions of fish, Malgam showed no interest in compensating fishermen for their losses. They claim they paid for cleanup costs, but the process lacked transparency, and it is not clear how much they spent or how much they actually cleaned up. The two companies refused to pay the Ghanaian government a fine. Malgam is now embroiled in a legal case.
A number of additional disturbing issues have surfaced within the last year:
• Mr. Calmy-Rey has indicated that he seeks to bring local content online as soon as possible. However, the “training programs” that Malgam provides are a token gesture that involve only a small handful of Ghanaians every year.
• Rather than sourcing local food supplies, Malgam imports food for its rig workers from Europe or neighboring Ivory Coast.
• Malgam has preferentially awarded contracts to foreign companies, e.g. air transportation for executives was awarded to a Dutch company instead of a capable Ghanaian one; heavy lifting equipment was awarded to a British company; and the tug boats used in repositioning offshore oil rigs are operated by an Italian group.
• Expatriate engineers are paid three or four times what their equivalent Ghanaian counterparts are and are more likely to get certain perks such as a free car or company credit card.
Goilco, Ghana’s state-owned petroleum company, has a 10% carried interest in the East Cape Points license. That Goilco entered into this agreement is a matter of personal pride for me in the last three years that I have been on board as the CEO. However, I have a wider pride that goes far beyond the boundaries of our offices. I want to see a minimum and not arbitrary pay scale for Ghanaian workers, and I have fought for it. It has been a losing battle.
Malgam CEO Roger Calmy-Rey himself approached me with a proposal that I abet his efforts to achieve certain ultimate goals in return for substantial remuneration to me. The specifics were as follows:
• Reduce pressure on Malgam to reimburse fishermen in the event of an oil spill.
• Strengthen regulations against fishing activities near deep-sea installations.
• Work toward avoiding fines on Malgam in the case of an oil spill-they will pay for cleanup only and their own experts will determine the cost.
• Establish few or only loose regulations against waste dumping from the FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading) vessel into the Gulf of Guinea.
• Firm pressure against establishing a Maritime Law in Parliament.
• Avoid any formal, government-determined pay structure for Ghanaians, and a “look-away” policy vis-à-vis discriminatory salary policies against Ghanaian workers.
• And above alclass="underline" collusion in promoting a humanitarian image for the Malgam in general and Roger Calmy-Rey in particular.
Malgam Oil and its CEO now have a problem. I am the problem. In my entire career, I have never been corruptible, and I don’t intend to start now. My answer to all of the above proposals is “no.” I have sacked the three Goilco officials known to have accepted gifts of cash and expensive trips abroad from Malgam.
In order to achieve the corrupt schemes listed in the foregoing, Malgam is paying off high government officials in the chain of command. The Minister of Energy, the Hon. Terence Amihere, has received a retainer of $200,000, deposited in his Swiss bank account in order to assist Malgam in the ways outlined above. I have this on the authority of a ministry insider.
The time has come for a full investigation of corrupt practices carried out by Malgam and other oil companies operating off Ghana’s shores. I call for this because I love my country and I want to see it prosper. This is not about me. In fact, I don’t care what happens to me. This is about Ghana, a country whose immeasurable potential can be attained only if honor can triumph over greed and corruption.
Dawson took a breath and leaned back. “Unbelievable.”
“Do you think all these accusations are true?” Chikata asked.
“I don’t know,” Dawson said, rubbing his chin in thought, “but it almost doesn’t matter. The point is that the accusations have been made, and they are so serious that they warrant an investigation.”
“Why was Tetteh sending it to a UK paper?”
“Because he wanted the biggest impact, I suppose,” Dawson said. “He knew the penalties imposed on a UK company for corrupt practices in foreign countries are severe, so he was sending the article to where it really counts. From the Times it would immediately be picked up here in Ghana-all over the world, actually, especially online. But let’s go back to the beginning and work our way forward to this article. Say I’m Tetteh of Goilco and you are Charles of Malgam. We’ve known each other since the beginning of the discovery of oil in Ghana, say, five years-or maybe even before that.”
“Okay,” Chikata said, nodding.
“Formerly,” Dawson continued, “I was an employee of an oil company in Texas, but now I’m back in Ghana and I want to work for the state-owned oil corporation, Goilco. Three years ago, I became CEO, and I’m passionate about making it a world-class oil and gas company. I’m determined to do it. I want to leave that legacy, right?”
“Right,” Chikata agreed.
Dawson got to his feet and paced a few steps back and forth. “However, after looking into way the previous CEO ran the company, I’m finding waste, redundancy, missing reports, missing money, and above all, evidence of bribery and corruption. I dig further, and I find this goes wider, deeper, and higher than I’d imagined, and I’m shocked to find that Malgam Oil is paying off people at all levels of government to maximize oil profits and avoid being regulated. So now, what should I do?”
“Well, you-Tetteh-know me very well,” Chikata said slowly, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, “or maybe we are quite good friends and you need to talk to someone. I’m in Takoradi, and you’re in Accra, so you text me from there asking to meet me to talk about this because you’re worried.”
“Good,” Dawson said, aiming an approving finger at the sergeant. “When you come down from Takoradi, we meet up, and I tell you everything I’ve found out about this rampant corruption. You, Charles, probably didn’t know anything about it-or maybe you did. In any case, you are horrified that I’m thinking of making these allegations public. To you, this would be a disaster. You advise me not to go further, but I’m determined to do it. By phone and email, you try repeatedly to get in touch with me to warn me. You take me as a friend, but you’re also a Malgam employee, so your ultimate allegiance is to your company, your boss, Roger Calmy-Rey.”
“So I’m going to report to him everything you’ve told me.”
“Yes,” Dawson said emphatically. “By all means, you have to make Calmy-Rey aware of such a serious threat to him and his company.”