Former President Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor has for the first time commented on the Kosmos/EO Group saga, praising the Texas-based Energy Company for its extra-ordinary effort to strike oil in commercial quantities in Ghana, and rejected claims that his government was too relaxed in negotiating a better deal for the country. "Kosmos made the difference to strike oil. Hut no preferential treatment was given. No, it is not so," the former president was expatiating on the issue in an exclusive interviewed by Mr. Fred Chidi , a journalist, at the former president's residence on a TV Africa evening programme, “Matters Arising” on Monday. He said Kosmos took a high risk in undertaking exploration of the country's offshore oil reserves, pumping in a lot of money which most oil companies would not risk to do. Mr. Kufuor noted that the current world attention on Ghana as a future market force in the oil industry must be credited to Kosmos, "because the country was previously not attracted to any of the now oil companies that have stormed in to take shares of the oil find". According to the former Head of State, "Nobody knew Ghana has oil, but after Kosmos' exploration everybody wants to come here." He stated categorically that it was untrue his government did not enter a competitive agreement with Kosmos, stating that the Government of Ghana share of 10 percent in the deal was arrived at after careful negotiations to ascertain the country's worth in the oil find. The interview centered on many issues such as the health of Ghana's economy, politics, Nigeria, his current position as Chairman of Alliance Against Poverty and the thorny issue of the non-payment of his ex-gratia. When asked by the host of the programme as to whether his ex-gratia had been paid, the two-term president, who is mostly referred to by his admirers as the 'gentle giant' said, "No, this is a matter I personally don't want to talk about." But, the subject seemed to have ignited his emotions when he added that "the provisions of the Constitution must always be respected" and that it was a bad precedence for a committee to be set up by the Constitution and its recommendations be treated with contempt. Source: New Crusading Guide/Ghana