Edward Bawa slams AG for misleading public on ENI/Vitol arbitration ruling

Edward Bawa, the Member of Parliament for Bongo and a member of the Energy Committee in Parliament, has criticised Attorney General Godfred Dame for deceiving the public following the International Arbitration Tribunal’s ruling on the ENI/Vitol lawsuit.

The International Arbitration Tribunal in the Eni & Vitol versus Ghana and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) arbitration issued its final award, denying the Claimants – Eni and Vitol – their monetary damages, which initially stood at $7 billion but were later reduced to $915 million plus interest by the end of the proceedings.

On July 8, the AG issued a statement describing the award as a “major victory” for the country.

But in an interview on The Big Issue on Channel One TV, Edward Bawa chastised the Attorney General for failing to rely on the substance of the ruling.

He claimed that Godfred Dame’s posture has tarnished his reputation, stating that he has compromised the integrity of his office.

“So, for the AG to have issued that statement and said that we have won, he zeroed down on the $7billion. If you look at ENI’s request to the Tribunal, it said, should government go ahead to unitise, we were going to be making a loss of about $7 billion. And so, if government insists on going to unitise, then government should pay us $7 billion, this was a request by ENI. In the Tribunal’s ruling, they said we’re dismissing this $7billion request, because the unitisation has actually not occurred.

“However, you reserve the rights should government decide to go ahead and unitise, to come back to make a request for that. So, how do you consider this as a victory? I think the Attorney General’s posture, just goes to again darken his recent past reputation.

“Because if you have a situation where you are struggling on your very reputation based on a particular case you’re trying now. Where people think that you have behaved unethically, then, suddenly, there is a ruling. And you know this is a ruling that says the government of Ghana had breached provisions.

“So, for you to have come and issue a statement like that, it again dents the image of that particular organisation or department you’re heading.