By NOELA EBOB BISONG
Heads have started rolling at the National Refining Company, SONARA, following the May 31, 2019 explosion at the company. The fire incident which occurred within some production units has left a colossal damage, said to be worth hundreds of billions of FCFA. The commissions put in place to investigate the exact cause of SONARA’s worst-ever disaster have begun producing preliminary results, weeks after.
The arrested directors
Five directors of the company; Louis-Marie Tiako, (Operations Manager), Derrick Takere, (Phase I Project Manager), Veronique Nkengue, (Finance and Accounting), Alain Wa Lonla, (Maintenance) and Mohaman Nayelwa (Quality, Hygiene, Safety, Environment and Inspection), are currently in the Gendarmerie Legion in Limbe, on the orders of the Limbe Senior State Counsel, magistrate Nawaongo Manfred, to answer more questions. It should be noted that though the inquiry is led by the South West Attorney General, it is the Limbe prosecuting magistrate who has jurisdiction over SONARA at this stage.
Grilling at SONARA
The five directors were arrested on Thursday, June 20, 2019, after they were grilled the previous week, alongside others, including SONARA General Manager, Jean-Paul Simo Njonou.
The SUN gathered that during the said grilling, Simo Njonou had spent between six-seven hours with the investigators, at which period he must have convincingly explained his case, since he is said to be without blames, at least, for the moment.
Findings
Following the ongoing investigations, reports say the crack team led by the South West Attorney General, Mbia Emmanuel and supervised by South West Governor, Okalia Bernard Bilai, has so far established that the explosion was neither as a result of a separatist attack, nor an internal sabotage. Rather, the findings so far are said to be pointing to the fundamental cause, said to be an accident.
However, the team is currently at the level of establishing whether the accident resulted from a human factor (negligence) or a natural factor (only an accident). The team is expected to continue its work on Monday, June 24.
Crux of the matter
Conflicting reports have it that one of the main issues during the grilling was SONARA’s delay to pay its insurance prior to the explosion. According to reports, the insurance documents had already been prepared by the administrative and human resources departments and signed by the GM, but apparently there was a slight delay in payment. This may be the reason for the detention of the director of finance and accounts. The SUN has not been able to confirm this allegation.
Nonetheless, The SUN has learnt that two re-assurance companies from the UK have just rounded-up a field assessment working visit to SONARA over the week-end and are expected back in July. This may be indication that the issue of non-payment of the company’s insurance may not be as gloomy as reports suggest.
The two re-assurance companies are acting as covers for the two local companies viz ACTIVA and NSIA to which SONARA is insured. Our findings have also revealed that SONARA is claiming an insurance compensation of about FCFA 300 billion. However, according to our authoritative sources, allegations that SONARA has not been insured for the past four years are unfounded and baseless. The current insurance contract which expired in March 2019, was extended by three months that is from April to June 30, 2019 instead of the normal one year period due to some procedural issues.
The investigations have also covered other units where the other four aforementioned directors are concerned.
Prior to their arrest last Thursday, June 20, 2019, the directors, as well as the GM, Simo Njonou and others were allowed to go home following the previous week’s grilling and were all called back on Thursday, June 20 after which the five were arrested and detained for further interrogations. This will land them hours later, into the hands of elements of the gendarmerie Legion in Limbe, where they were still in custody, at press time. Between 20 and 30 senior and middle-level staff have gone through the grilling.
The SUN also learnt that while the commission (principally technical and administrative) set in place by the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Joseph Dion Ngute and headed by Minister Gaston Eloundou Essomba of Water and Energy is already at work, this first result of the ongoing investigation at SONARA has been established by the Okalia Bilai commission, said to be solely judicial and directly answerable to the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the seals, Laurent Esso. The commission began work barely few days after the fire disaster.
With many more still to be grilled, a tense and nerve-wrecking atmosphere is perceptible at SONARA, for no one knows which head may be rolling next.