A key witness for Vivo Energy Ghana Limited has told an Accra High Court that he has no knowledge of any investigative report on the 2022 Atimpoku fuel contamination incident and did not personally invite the state agencies that were asked to probe the matter.
John Delase-Michael, the Station Manager at the Atimpoku branch of Vivo Energy, formerly known as Shell Filling Station, made the disclosure on Thursday during further cross-examination in the lawsuit brought against the oil marketing company by businessman Edmund Barwuah. “After investigations were conducted, I was not informed of the outcome,” the witness told the court, adding that he believed any report produced would have been directed to the authority that invited the state institutions. He also confirmed that he had not submitted any Assessment Impact Report from national bodies as part of his evidence. “I have not brought any report before this court,” he stated.
The case arises from an incident on August 28, 2022, when Barwuah purchased petrol at the Atimpoku Shell station near the Adomi Bridge in the Eastern Region and found shortly after leaving the premises that his 2017 Ford Explorer began to jolt violently before the engine stalled entirely about a kilometre from the station. Barwuah is seeking 2.5 million dollars from Vivo Energy on the grounds that the damage to his vehicle from the incident caused him to lose a business opportunity, as well as a replacement vehicle and daily compensation for the period his car has been out of use.
In his claim, Barwuah argues that Vivo Energy owed a duty of care to the public to ensure that fuel sold at its outlets met required standards, alleging the company breached that duty for what he describes as “selfish and unholy financial gain.” The suit also contends that despite being informed about the contamination approximately an hour before the plaintiff arrived, the station continued to sell fuel to unsuspecting customers.
During Thursday’s cross-examination, Delase-Michael told the court that following the incident, Vivo Energy’s head office arranged for the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), and the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to conduct investigations. However, he clarified that it was not within his personal authority to have invited those agencies. “It was not in my power to call the EPA and the other agencies to investigate the cause on that day,” he said. He also stated he was unaware of any official guidelines covering station conduct during periods of heavy rainfall.
Vivo Energy has explained publicly that heavy rainfall caused water to leak into the station’s underground fuel storage tank, leading to the contamination, and has apologised for the incident.
The witness acknowledged in court the 2015 twin disaster at Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra, in which a fuel explosion linked to flooding and water infiltration of an underground storage tank claimed multiple lives. He disagreed, however, with the suggestion from the plaintiff’s counsel that Vivo Energy had taken its customers for granted in light of that known risk.
The case continues before the court presided over by Justice Isaac Addo.
Legal proceedings in this matter are ongoing. All allegations remain untested before the court.
