Last week, the High Court, Commercial Division, ordered them to
respond to 27 questions posed by the businessman Moto Mabanga after the
court accepted his application of interrogatories (request for further
information).
Through his advocates Gabriel Mnyele and Jethro Turyamwesiga, the
local businessman questioned whether Ophir had declared his interests to
the government as required in the three signed consultancy agreements
over Blocks One, Three and Four.
He also sought answers on the relationship between Ophir Energy
PLC, Ophir Services PTY Limited, on the one part and Ophir (Block 1)
Limited, Ophir (Block 3) Limited and Ophir (Block 4) Limited and if the
named companies are not subsidiaries of the said two gas exploration
companies.
Mabanga also wanted to know whether Ophir has any interests in the
three block companies and who the directors and shareholders are. He
also sought to know whether Ophir admits that Ophir (Block 1) Limited,
Ophir (Block 3) Limited and Ophir (Block 4) Limited were incorporated in
Jersey, US.
He further sought to know the legal status of the three companies
in Tanzania, whether they were registered by April 1, 2010 and which of
them in the Ophir Group sold 20 per cent shares to Pavilion Energy PTY,
another company which was dragged into the case as a Necessary Party.
However, Principal Officer with Ophir Nicholas Cooper objected to
respond; “I object to answer the question of the relationship between
the defendants on the ground that it is not exhibited bona fide for the
purpose of the suit.”
“Further, I object to answer the question whether Ophir did declare
the plaintiff’s (Mabanga) interests to the government of Tanzania for
being irrelevant at this stage,” he declared.
On his part, BG Head of Legal Affairs, Conor Skinner said some of
the questions are vague and unacceptable because the plaintiff is
seeking an admission based on unspecified assurances allegedly made by
one Dr Alan Stein, who is not a party to the suit though he is the
former Chief Executive Officer with the Ophir Company.
The businessman had also wanted to know whether Ophir agreed with
Dr Stein when he described Mabanga as being in the ‘Ophir family’ at the
time of signing the bid documents for Block One and that if the comment
meant he had legitimate interest in Ophir.
Mabanga also wanted Ophir to admit that they requested him to
negotiate with the government on Ophir’s behalf for favourable gas terms
and that he did.
According to him, he led an Ophir delegation from Dar es Salaam
when government officials went to South Korea for the inauguration
ceremony of a gas drilling ship named West Polaris.
He further wants Ophir to admit that the Korean trip created
opportunity for the company to invest more than 150 million US dollars
for the gas exploration and discoveries in Blocks One, Three and Four.
Mabanga sought to know whether Ophir admits that he was the key
person in its securing of the three gas blocks and hence he is very
valuable to Ophir and BG. He maintained that he was only “red flagged”
and considered an “obstacle to the transaction” during the advanced
stages of negotiations with BG.
The local businessman additionally sought to know whether Ophir
admits that the negotiations with BG were not disclosed to him as
ethically and contractually obliged in their three agreements.
He charges that a trip that he made to Houston Texas was set up by
Dr Stein set up who led him to believe that the trip was meant for him
to meet with Exxon Mobil for an important due diligence exercise in his
Ophir interests, but that it was a plot hatched by Ophir and BG to
defraud him.
He also sought to know whether Ophir admits that xenophobic or
racial considerations were the main reason for their bankers and
lawyer’s nervousness about having him as their local partner in
Tanzania.
Download Video and Put Comment
Toa Maoni Hapa Chini
