(Ghana Palaver) --Mr B.J. da Rocha, leader of Ghana’s negotiation team on the Review of VALCO Agreement, has been exposed as being an “employee” of VALCO’s, resident director, Charles Mensah.

This dual role places serious question marks about the so-called “difficulties” being encountered in the negotiations, an issue which has reportedly been dragged by VALCO to court, for legal direction. There is therefore, a general demand for Mr da Rocha to leave the team, honourably and as a matter of principle.

According to a despatch received from a concerned citizen America, and confirmed in local circles, Mr da Rocha’s close business relationship with Charles Mensah dates as far back as the early 1990s when he was engaged as a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), the Accra-based private think-tank founded and funded by the latter.

There are many publications of the IEA, which stand in the name of Mr da Rocha. It is here that the Conflict of interest arises. For, many are those who now doubt the genuineness of the so-called impasse, which has stalled the course o the negotiations.

Questions are being raised as to whether the whole “scenario” is not only being staged to pull a fast one on Ghanaians, to the advantage of the foreign company.

Charles Mensah, according to the latest information, is still the head of the IEA, despite a recent internal arrangement, which has changed his title from that of an Executive Director to President. To worsen matters, Charles Mensah’s close working relationship with da Rocha is known to the directorship and ownership of VALCO in the United States.

If for nothing at all, one can well imagine the real relief felt at the VALCO headquarters, when they found no other person than Mr da Rocha, who works hand in glove with their resident director in Ghana, leading a Government team to the negotiation table. For whether, da Rocha, charges like “a bull in court” or not, no one expects him to behave in a way as to embarrass his longtime employer and friend.

These are the concerns being raised in many quarters, following the discovery of the clear case of conflict of interest, despite the widely-publicised “tough” opening stance, taken by da Rocha as an “evidence” of independence and particularly of his determination “ to secure a fair deal for Ghana”.

A letter received from one such concerned citizen from America, asks: “How do we know for sure that the negotiation dynamics we are witnessing are not pre-arranged or orchestrated to give the semblance of a ‘fight’, while VALCO plays along, confident of a favourable ‘delivery’ as an end-game?

“VALCO, like any other profit-making enterprise, should not be expected to do what is right on some more morality basis. Ghanaians (local authorities), therefore, have a duty to ensure that multi-nationals play by the established rules (as prevails in their home countries) and should sanction any attempt by such companies to aside-step regulations, through the use of dubious comprados and self-serving agents.

As usual, it is the Ghanaian taxpayer’s interests that are likely to suffer from this ‘staged’ negotiations, unfolding amidst the encircling gloom of power outages in the country. The responsibility for ensuring that no self-dealing occurs in this all-important negotiation is, therefore, ours. We should demand that Mr da Rocha excuses himself to set our minds at ease.”

The letter further drew the attention of both President J.A. Kufuor (Mr Zero Tolerance) and Mr Emile Short of the Commission Human Rights and Administrative Justice (whose own ‘house’ is becoming problematic with some ‘rights’) to this serious anomaly, which has virtually put the nation “on sale.”

Meanwhile, Mr da Rocha has been spotted riding in a “brand new” dark green Nissan patrol, said to have been “acquired,” in the “heat” of the current stalled negotiations. Although eye-brows have been raised by “close” observers, it is difficult, due to legal hindrances, for one to lay a finger on the source of the “new arrival”.