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Many Ghanaians have severally said it before, many supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) have in fact agonized over it, but now coming from the veteran comedian and political commentator and pundit par excellence, Kwaku Sintim Misa (KSM), the appointees of President Mahama-led government need to sit up and work to support the President in order to avoid disgrace and embarrassment in the 2016 election. According to the quintessential comedian, KSM, in his recent interview with the media, he knows President Mahama very well and he knows him as a good man with good intentions for the country and its people, but the problem is his appointees. The aL-hAJJ has noticed and alerted the party, the government and the President on some of the slippery points in his government coming from some appointees which needs immediate remedial measures to forestall political ignominy in the forthcoming elections. One of such gaffes is the recent turf war between the management and board of the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) on the one hand and the Ministries of Finance, and Energy on the other hand, over the arrangement for a takeover of the gas company by its supposed parent company Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), a state-owned oil company. In the ensuing political m�l�e, both the finance ministry and the ministry of energy announced the consummation of the takeover, indicating that all the processes have been followed and the state-owned upstream company has finally swallowed its midstream partner, the GNGC. However, the board chairman of the GNGC, veteran Prof. Kwesi Botchwey fired a riposte saying the company, its management and the board have not been properly informed about any takeover arrangement let alone the consummation of any processes. According to the longest serving finance minister in Ghana, he first heard about the moves to annex the GNGC by the GNPC when the finance minister Seth Terkper read the 2015 budget last month. The Board Chairman of the Ghana National Gas Company, (GNGC), Prof. Kwesi Botchwey in an interview with the media on the furor also denied reports of a frosty relationship between him and Finance Minister, Seth Terkper. There are speculations in the political and financial grapevine that the former finance minister is enmeshed in an internecine tug-of-war with the finance minister Seth Terkper following President Mahama�s decision to direct Prof. Botchwey to lead the government�s negotiation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a possible programme to support the nation�s macroeconomic stabilization efforts. Mr. Terkper is said not to see eye-to-eye with the veteran former finance minister, who was a Professor of Practice in Development Economics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University, according to some media reports. The report attributed to sources at the ministry of finance said, Mr. Terkper has been angling to see the back of Prof. Botchwey so that he could have a free hand to maneuver in the management of the national economy. However, prior to the appointment of Prof. Botchwey to lead the discussion with the Fund, the economy had been experiencing some massive turbulence after almost four years of sustained macro-economic stability. Inflation was rising at an alarming rate and there was massive depreciation of foreign exchange and almost a lost battle in fiscal consolidation. Just after the announcement of the takeover, the Ghana Gas board Chair publicly denied report by the Energy ministry that the gas company has been taken over by the GNPC, despite the fact that the initiative was announced by Terkper in Parliament during the presentation of the 2015 budget statement. His reaction has been attributed in some quarters to the perceived cold relationship that exist between the two. But speaking on Citi FM, Friday, Prof Botchwey said there is no bad blood between him and the finance minister. �I will not say there is some ill-feeling between me and the finance minister. I only think things like these (GNGC takeover) must be done in the right way and not because of any issue between anyone�. However, 24 hours after Prof Botchwey�s stunning revelation, official letters from the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum purportedly written two days earlier and addressed to the Board and the Chief Executive of Ghana National Gas Company officially informing them about the takeover surfaced in the media. This is to contrast claims by the Board Chairman, Prof. Kwesi Botchwey that the board has not officially been informed of the takeover by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, contesting media reports that the process has been concluded. He however admitted to a statement from the Finance Minister pointing to the appointment of the transaction advisor. �We are also yet to receive any written indications from either the Minister for Finance or Minister for Energy on the takeover decision and the way forward as the Company prepares to meet the Transaction Advisor,� Prof. Botchwey said. But the supposed letter from the Energy and Petroleum Ministry dated 9th December, 2014, and signed by the sector minister, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana National Gas Company, copied to Prof. Botchwey, under the subject: �Transfer of Government of Ghana�s shareholding in Ghana National Gas Company to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation� was said to officially inform Ghana Gas about the transfer of government�s shares in the company. �I hereby write to officially notify GNGC of the said transfer, as was communicated at the meeting under reference. Please be advised accordingly,� the letter read in part. The letter spelt out, �At a meeting held today Tuesday 9 December, 2014, at the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum with the Board Chairman and Company Secretary of Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC), the Board Chairman and two Board Members of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), and the Chief Executive Officer of GNPC, I informed the Board Chairman and Company of GNGC that GoG has transferred its entire stake in GNGC to GNPC.� The letter also referred to an earlier letter to the GNGC on the same subject dated 3rd December, 2014. Subsequent to the 9th December letter, another letter from the Ministry to the CEO of GNGC again copied to the Board Chairman stated, �Pursuant to this policy decision, GoG has appointed Price water house Coopers (PwC) as Transaction Advisor, to oversee the GNGC transfer process and assist with the successful integration of GNGC into GNPC.� The latest letter was dated 10th December, 2014. The aL-hAJJ has learnt that similar cold war also exists between the Energy Minster,Mr Emmanuel Kofi Armah Buah and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GNGC, Dr. George Sipa-Adjah Yankey over political differences in their home region, Western. �Mr Buah would be very happy to see the end of the administration of Sipa Yankey at the Ghana Gas and so what is happening is not surprising,� a source told this paper on condition of anonymity. On his part, the Chairman of the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas, Dr. Steve Manteaw has alleged that government�s hasty handover of Ghana Gas Company to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is a short-term expediency, assuming the agreement has been concluded as the energy and finance ministries wanted the world to understand. He said the takeover is to enable GNPC expand its assets, following its acquisition of the US$700 million commercial loan. The loan itself has been a subject of heated political debate between government and the political opposition led by the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP). The GNPC�s controversial acquisition of the US$700 million loan from the Deutshe Bank of Germany has resulted in a law suit filed by three Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) all from the NPP. The MPs- Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei and Samuel Atta Akyea have challenged the decision by the Corporation to sidestep Parliament in their bid to secure the loan. The Corporation was accused of breaching the constitution by seeking the loan without Parliamentary approval. There were also allegations that the GNPC was taking the loan on behalf of the Mahama government in spite of the rising levels of the national debt; an allegation which was denied by GNPC boss, Alex Mould. Mr. Mould explained that the loan will be used to support the Corporation�s increasing oil and gas infrastructural investment. Since the Energy Minister announced that the Ghana Gas takeover was complete, there have been speculations that the hasty move is to enable the GNPC possibly satisfy some conditions in the US$700 million loan agreement. Sharing his thoughts on the matter, Dr. Steve Manteaw told Citi News that the hasty move will create governance challenges for both companies. He accused the Energy Ministry of attempting to �cut corners in the transition process; a situation which is likely to create new corporate governance challenges for both GNPC and Ghana Gas.� He stressed that the indecent haste with which the Mahama administration is seeking to effect its recently announced decision to re-create Ghana Gas as a subsidiary of GNPC �seems to me that the driving imperative is a short-term expediency, particularly GNPC�s decision to contract a US$700 million commercial loan, and therefore the need to expand its assets by adding Ghana Gas to its portfolio.� He therefore urged the Energy Ministry to �hasten slowly and proceed in a manner that does not cast doubt on the real intent of the reforms.� Surmising, Mohammed Amin Adam has stated that the takeover of the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) appears messy because the transaction advisor failed to do a proper work. Also responding, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam who is the Executive Director of Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) said the takeover process has been too swift for appropriate consultations to have been done, confirming the position of the board chairman of the GNGC. He was commenting on what appears to be a disagreement in the take-over involving the three state institutions, the GNGC, the ministry of energy and the ministry of finance. The Ministry of Energy, the supervisory ministry of the GNPC, in a statement issued Wednesday and signed by its Head of Communications, Mr Edward Bawa, said "GoG has executed the legal instrument assigning its entire shareholding in GNGC to GNPC." The statement added that "GNPC is now the sole shareholder of GNGC and now has full control over GNGC." But a statement issued by Board Chairman of the Ghana National Gas Company, Dr. Kwesi Botchwey said suggestions that the takeover is concluded are incorrect. �Statements suggesting that the takeover has been concluded are, therefore, surprising and premature. The Board & Management of Ghana Gas have not held a single meeting with the Transaction Advisor�� Mohammed Amin Adam told Joy FM�s Top Story Thursday, �The complaint by the Ghana Gas Company suggests that the transaction advisor hasn�t done proper work.� He explained: �Personally I think the process has been too swift. The Minister announced in the budget statement that Ghana Gas Company would be taken over by GNPC, three days after that the Minister announced a transaction advisor, one week after that we heard a statement that Ghana Gas has been completely taken over by GNPC. �What are the terms of reference of [the] transaction advisor, when it started work and whether it consulted the stakeholders remain unanswered questions,� Mohammed Amin Adam remarked. Ranking member of Mines and Energy Committee in Parliament K.T Hammond said the takeover is long overdue. He said he has since upheld that setting up the Ghana Gas Company was �ill-advised�, describing the ongoing turf war as �comical�. He complained bitterly about the formation and issues related to the company saying Parliament has been sidelined and not briefed about the company. Though he said he does not sympathize with any of the institutions, he is convinced that if the difference is not resolved, the future of the country would be at stake. Taking his turn on STARR CHAT with host Nathaniel Kwabena Anokye Adisi popularly known as Bola Ray, on Starr 103.5 FM last week, KSM said President Mahama � a �personal friend� � is a good man who aims to improve the livelihood of Ghanaians but is being let down by the people around him.� �Basically I really think it could be better, I think President John Mahama who is my personal friend� I think he means well, but I think the team that is surrounding him is not �bigging� him up. �It is a big, big, big problem� that is how I see it� but John is a good person, he means well, but there should be strong solid team behind him who can give him something to go and say. The president cannot do and know everything; somebody will have to tell him about energy,� KSM said Wednesday.