A private company by name Stratcon, Bulk Oil and Distribution Companies (BDC) based in Ghana has sued the Tema Oil Refinery(TOR) a whopping $55 million.
The company co-owned by Harry Campbell and Albert Obimpeh-Abedi only registered IN 2017 under the previous Akufo-Addo-led administration entered a contract TOR to trade petroleum products and share profits.
According to TOR, the two parties entered into a profit-sharing agreement in 2019 under which Stratcon was to trade petroleum products on its behalf, Stratcon allegedly sold the products but withheld its share of the revenue.
When TOR raised concerns, Stratcon reportedly counter-sued, claiming the refinery had defaulted on obligations. The company is now demanding more than $55 million in lost profits, while TOR insists Stratcon owes it upwards of $15 million for products lifted.
The dispute hinges on whether Stratcon is entitled to profits from unrealized transactions, as it argues, or whether it must pay TOR for petroleum products it actually sold into the market, as TOR claims.
For the past six years, this legal wrangle has pitted Stratcon against one of Ghana’s most strategic state-owned energy institutions. Beyond the courtroom, however, analysts like Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa argue that the case underscores deeper issues of accountability, transparency, and the growing influence of private companies in the country’s energy sector.
In a Twitter post, questions who sold the products and who was the money paid to.
“The simple question is this: who was selling the stuff to the market? Our analysis of the records show that it is Stratcon. Who was collecting the money from buyers? Our analysis of the records show it is Stratcon. 17. So, what are we missing? How did TOR become the one that owes tens of millions of dollars to Stratcon? ” he posted.
1. Whenever we mention private companies and businesspeople in our policy advocacy, people get jittery.
2. Yet, in most policy issues, at least one-half or one-third of the situation involves private companies/businesspeople.
3. Our shyness in discussing private businesses in Ghana has made most of them totally unused to scrutiny. As soon as you spotlight them a bit, they sue you (SLAPP you; SLAPP = “strategic lawsuit against public participation”.)
4. Everyone is, thus, scared of private businesses in Ghana. Almost no one discusses them even if their role is critical in a policy issue.
5. There is a company called Stratcon, owned by one Harry Campbell and one Albert Obimpeh-Abedi. Registered on 12th Jan 2017 to deal in financial services and project financing.
6. Somehow, before anyone can say “Jack”, they had become big dons in the petroleum trading space. Now, they even want to own oil blocks. Until 2018, no one knew Mr. Campbell or Obimpeh-Abedi in petroleum in Ghana.
7. Clearly, they like to keep a low-profile. Though, one half of the duo doesn’t seem to mind getting embroiled in tabloid-controversies about child custody: https://newsghana.com.gh/child-custody-row-baaba-sam-trafficks-daughter-in-dramatic-run-with-boyfriend/
8. Why am I telling you about all this? Well, because I was SLAPPed mysteriously by this lot in late July for something I wrote in January.
9. What did I do? I was reacting to public comments of Ghana’s Energy Minister who said he couldn’t fathom how Stratcon was supplying fuel to power plants without a contract. Here is what I wrote: https://x.com/BBSimons/status/1876954015050719561 10. Seven months later, they file a lawsuit, and splash it all over the press without even serving me.
11. Whenever I see a SLAPP, I assume that the people suing have things they want to keep under wraps, so I dig more. Accountability, as I keep saying, is a marathon.
12. I was thus not surprised to learn that Stratcon is entangled in disputes with State-owned companies.
13. Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) says they entered into a contract with Stratcon to trade petroleum products and share profits. TOR says Stratcon sold the stuff and pocketed its share of the cash.
14. TOR says when it notified Stratcon of its default on its obligations in 2019, the latter rather went to Court and sued TOR for more money.
15. The whole situation has become quite a mess. Stratcon says TOR owes it $55 million+ in lost profits. Yep, counterfactual liability paa. TOR says Stratcon owes it more than $15 million.
16. The simple question is this: who was selling the stuff to the market? Our analysis of the records show that it is Stratcon. Who was collecting the money from buyers? Our analysis of the records show it is Stratcon.
17. So, what are we missing? How did TOR become the one that owes tens of millions of dollars to Stratcon?
18. Mainly, Stratcon relies on profits it says it would have made had certain transactions happened. TOR on the other hand is demanding payment mostly for actual product lifted by Stratcon.
19. Of course, that is why the matter is before court. Suffice it to say, however, that Stratcon has been in highly antagonistic relations with state-owned TOR now for 6 years. And that they are hell-bent on collecting $55 million from TOR for so-called lost profits.
20. Whilst the legal aspects of the commercial dispute are before a court, we are entitled to dig into the political, policy, and political economy aspects of how Stratcon became so powerful and entangled with the state energy apparatus in the way they became. We have sent emails to Stratcon. No response so far. But accountability is a marathon.
