In Pursuit of Jubilee

For 100 years, exploratory oil wells had been drilled off the coast of Ghana by major companies, yet none had found oil. The agency tasked with searching for oil during the administration of the nation’s longest-serving military dictator had also failed to find oil. Yet, Ghana was located near oil producing nations such as Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea, which had been pumping oil in commercial quantities for decades. What was wrong in Ghana?

On the eve of the presidential election at the dawn of the new millennium, a challenge was announced by the opposition party: Find oil in Ghana! After the party won the Presidency, George Owusu initiated efforts that resulted in a massive oil discovery, catapulting Ghana onto the world stage and setting the country on a potential path to economic parity with First World countries. Owusu was a hero.

And then, in a bitterly-fought election after the discovery, the government was retaken by the party of the nation’s last dictator. Within weeks of the takeover, before a drop of oil was pumped, the Attorney General filed 25 felony charges against Owusu. Police subjected him to a dozen CID interrogations, a relentless smear campaign was waged against him by the media, he was followed by shadowy figures, hounded by reporters, attacked by his own business partners. The U.S. Department of Justice and FBI investigated him.

The charges threatened to bring Ghana’s fledgling oil industry to the brink of chaos and destroy Owusu’s life. He could hang on only so long before he had to decide to abandon what was rightfully his share of a multibillion-dollar oil discovery or keep up a battle that cost him every penny he had. Could he win? Or would the government disappear him and take his share of the huge find.