The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has raised concern over the alleged sale of the Tema Oil refinery (TOR) to Chinese owned oil refinery Sentuo Oil Refinery Ltd. 

They claimed to have information about a private meeting to facilitate the sale of TOR. 

“ASEPA received a whistle-blower alert from an insider at the Tema Oil refinery (TOR) that there was on ongoing meeting between the management of Tema Oil Refinery and the management of the Chinese owned private oil refinery Sentuo Oil Refinery Ltd allegedly to discuss the sale of the national refinery to Sentuo,” a statement from ASEPA reads. 

They are, however, calling on the management of TOR to make public whether the state oil refinery will have new owners as speculated. 


Read below the full statement 

On Thursday the 4h of April 2024 at about 11am, ASEPA received a whistle-blower alert from an insider at the Tema Oil refinery (TOR) that there was on ongoing meeting between the management of Tema Oil Refinery and the management of the Chinese owned private oil refinery Sentuo Oil Refinery Ltd allegedly to discuss the sale of the national refinery to Sentuo. 

The meeting we were informed lasted from 10am to 1pm at the premises of the Tema Oil Refinery after which there was a large celebration at Sentuo Oil Refinery Ltd to celebrate the outcome of the supposed meeting. 

The said meeting till now has not been reported in the media neither has Tema Oil Refinery issued an official statement on the matter. 

ASEPA as a public accountability organisation is therefore activating the Right to Information Law to compel both Tema Oil Refinery and Sentuo Oil Refinery to disclose to the public the nature of the relationship between Tema Oil Refinery and Sentuo Oil Refinery Ltd; whether TOR has been sold out rightly to Sentuo or Sentuo has taken over the management of TOR or certain aspects of TOR's operations has been handed over to Sentuo. 

The RTI request would also demand from the management of TOR to disclose to the general public the content of the April 4' meeting between both parties and what the ramifications are for the future of TOR. 

TOR as a public institution owes a duty of care to the citizens and as such must ensure that it exercises the optimum level of transparency required under the laws of Ghana in all its operations and management.