The Vote of Censure Parliamentary Committee instituted by Speaker Alban Bagbin to probe into the allegations levelled against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, resumed its public hearings today.
The institutions; Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation(GNPC) took turns to make their submissions before the Committee.
On Tuesday, the Committee co-chaired by MP for Bolga East, Dominic Ayine and Adansi-Asokwa legislator, Kobina Tahir Hammond began sitting.
Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu and Ranking Member on the Finance Committee in Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, together with Lawyer for the Finance Minister, Gabby Otchere Darko appeared before the Committee.
A member of the ad hoc committee, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, has revealed that the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) will appear before the committee of Parliament probing allegations in a censure motion against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, on Thursday, November 17, 2022.
In a Facebook post, the North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, shared “the Ken Ofori-Atta Vote of Censure Parliamentary Committee resumes public hearings tomorrow at 11am. We expect PIAC and GNPC to appear before us.”
The ad hoc committee has commenced a public hearing on the motion of censure against Ken Ofori-Atta.
At the first sitting the Minority, represented by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu and, Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, cited PIAC reports from 2019 to 2022 and the Petroleum Management Act as some of the basis for their allegations against the Ofori-Atta.
It is based on this the PIAC and GNPC are expected to appear before the house to respond to this allegation.
The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) says the practice of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) committing huge sums of its funds into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) must end.
Vice Chairman of PIAC, Nasir Alfa Mohammed, says Parliament needs to scrutinize the budget of GNPC to ensure that the state company uses appropriated funds for the specified project aimed at fetching government enough revenue.
“Usually, GNPC will end up spending on other areas other than their core mandate, which is to ensure that they do more prospecting and exploration of more oil for us to get more revenue”.
Nasir Alfa Mohammed made these comments when he was addressing a media engagement during the presentation of its semi-annual report.
“We are of the opinion that Parliament should pay particular attention to the budgetary request of GNPC, scrutinize very well and ensure that GNPC does not take money approved by parliament and utilize it more on Corporate Social investments”, he further added.
According to Dr Donkor who disclosed this in Parliament, “the financials don’t speak well of GNPC. He thus has called for stringent measures to be rolled out to forestall the collapse of the institution.
He bemoaned the fact that the GNPC is funding activities unrelated to its mandate, and warned of dire consequences if this development continues.
“We will urge that from a purely financial analysis, without injection of new funds, GNPC is on the brink of bankruptcy,” he said.
The GNPC is the state agency responsible for the exploration, licensing, and distribution of petroleum-related activities in Ghana.
It has been in operation since its establishment in 1983 by the PNDC Law 64, to support the government’s objective of providing adequate and reliable supply of petroleum products and reducing the country’s dependence on crude oil imports, through the development of the country’s own petroleum resources.
It is on record that the company in 2020, made a loss of USD163.392 million.
The company blamed this on the COVID-19 pandemic which wreaked havoc on many economies.
However, commenting on the report of the Committee on Employment Welfare and State Enterprises on the Financial Performance of GNPC for 2019 and 2020, Mr Duffour noted that the corporation’s coffer is in a bad shape.
He, thus, charged Parliament to take a keen interest in the management of the corporation.
“…Mr Speaker, in supporting the motion. I want to call the attention of this house to the need to bring GNPC, even if it is a committee of whole, to bring GNPC before this house for more critical scrutiny,” he said.
Also, Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee Samuel Atta Akyea, noted that it appears the GNPC has drifted from its core mandate, a development which has accounted for its current woes.
Worried over the current state of the corporation, a ranking member on the Mines and Energy Committee, John Jinapor, bemoaned that the financial position of GNPC is devastating – a situation he said could lead to the collapse of the company.
He further lamented the huge losses recorded over the period in review. “I’m very, very worried about the state of GNPC reading this report. And if you look at Page 4, is tasked with the profitability assessment of the company. If we look at the gross profit margin, which is the gross profit expressed as a percentage of your total sales, it has reduced from 50% in 2018 to 26% in 2019 to 0.3% in 2020.” “If you look at the operating profit… it has moved from 28% to -19.23%, nearing the point that money doesn’t like noise.”
This comes after policy think tank IMANI Africa and the Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) alleged that GNPC could cost Ghana between US$5 billion and US$6 billion. According to the two companies, the GNPC’s current arrangement with Genser Energy Holdings, a US-based Ghanaian-owned energy company, would lead to financial loss to the state.
GNPC, however, has debunked the assertion, emphasising that the figures quoted by ACEP and Imani to represent programmed losses are in fact budget deficits.
GNPC further stated that what it presents to Parliament in its annual Work Program is what the Corporation intends to spend on its activities and the sources of funding for such projects, and the means of financing the forecasted deficit, if any.
“It is based on these mis-represented figures that ACEP and Imani draw their conclusion that GNPC’s operations raise significant debt concerns, and that cumulatively, the Corporation’s actions could cost Ghana between US$5 billion and US$6 billion. These conclusions cannot be any further from the truth,” a document from GNPC sighted by The Independent Ghana read.
“The two organisations make basic errors, in their inability to distinguish between deficit financing and profit/loss,” the Corporation added.
According to GNPC, it remains a perennial loss-making organisation that has made a loss in only one year, i.e. 2020.
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) will offer five full university scholarships to five outstanding contestants of the just-ended 2022 National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ).
As a supporting sponsor of the contest, GNPC will provide the scholarship package as part of the academic scholarships to be awarded to the outstanding contestants of the grand finale of the 2022 edition of the NSMQ.
Five of the nine contestants who competed in the National Science and Maths Quiz grand finale will receive the Full Scholarship, which covers tuition, accommodation, living expenses, learning materials, as well as Book Allowance and Dissertation/Project Allowance.
The chief executive officer of the Corporation, Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah an alumnus and former contestant of the National Science and Maths Quiz for the Presbyterian Boys Senior High School speaking at the closing ceremony of the competition at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology underscored the corporation’s commitment to maximizing local participation in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. (STEM)
“Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), as the national oil company (NOC), recognizes the urgent need to maximize local content and local participation for the people of Ghana, through developing expertise in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) within the value chain, for job creation.”
According to him, the National Science and Maths Quiz has proven to be a good project over the years through its promotion of STEM education, hence the GNPC’s decision to sponsor the competition.
“Indeed, the NMSQ is a good project, and that is why the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has decided to join in promoting the study of Science and Maths, which is the bedrock of our very existence as a society. Today, every thriving society is making huge investments in the study and promotion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).”
The chief executive officer of GNPC further appreciated the organisers of the competition-Prime Time limited, for sustaining the programme for close to three decades while churning out great leaders through the contest.
“I want to use this opportunity to thank the management of Primetime production for having sustained this project for the past 29 years. Next year will be three (3) decades of the National Science and Maths Quiz, one whole generation of patronizing the backbone of the country.”
The Presbyterian Boys Senior High School won the 2022 National Science and Maths Quiz, thus becoming the competition’s seven-time winner.
Presbyterian Boys’ SHS won the competition in the final round surprising the students from Prempeh College, who had led in previous rounds.
At the end of the contest, the Presbyterian Boys SHS had 50 points, while Prempeh College garnered 41 points with Adisadel College ending the contest with 32 points.
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has rejected reports from the IMANI Africa and the Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), indicating the Corporation could cost Ghana between US$5 billion and US$6 billion.
According to the two companies, the GNPC’s current arrangement with Genser Energy Holdings, a US-based Ghanaian-owned energy company, would lead to financial loss to the state.
GNPC, however, disagrees, stating that the figures quoted by ACEP and Imani to represent programmed losses are in fact budgeted deficits.
GNPC further stated that what it presents to Parliament in its annual Work Program is what the Corporation intends to spend on its activities and the sources of funding for such projects, and the means of financing the forecasted deficit, if any.
“It is based on these mis-represented figures that ACEP and Imani draw their conclusion that GNPC’s operations raise significant debt concerns, and that cumulatively, the Corporation’s actions could cost Ghana between US$5 billion and US$6 billion. These conclusions cannot be any further from the truth,” a document from GNPC sighted by The Independent Ghana read.
“The two organizations make basic errors, in their inability to distinguish between deficit financing and profit/loss,” the Corporation added.
According to GNPC, it remains a perennial loss-making organisation that has made a loss in only one year, i.e. 2020.
In 2020, GNPC made a loss of USD163.392 million. The company has blamed this on the COVID-19 pandemic which wreaked havoc on many economies.
“The years 2020 and 2021 particularly were difficult years for GNPC, and most other companies, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Ghana does not manage its price risk unlike many other E&P companies. As such, we are particularly hit when extraneous circumstances like the Covid-19 pandemic affect both oil prices and production levels,” it explained.
Meanwhile, GNPC has entreated Imani and ACEP to reach out to the Corporation on any matter they need clarification to,
“GNPC is transparent and ready to provide any information to ACEP and Imani. Despite all GNPC’s contributions to the development and well-being of the nation, the Corporation is yet to hear a single positive or uplifting statement from Imani and ACEP,” it said.
GNPC believes such errors would not have been made by the two institutions should they have reached out.
The Savannah Region has 70 per cent of the hydrocarbon deposits in the northern belt for crude oil exploitation.
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is currently exploring ways to tap the hydrocarbon deposits in the Region for petroleum production.
The Region also has large deposits of gold, especially in the western side; large deposits of clinker in Buipe for cement production, granite and 100,000 hectares of fertile land for agricultural production.
The Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) would, therefore, create an enabling environment for investors and help them to secure land for investments.
Mr Muhazu Saeed Jibril, the SavannahRegional Minister, made this known during a media encounter in Accra on Sunday dubbed: ” The Minister’s Press Briefing on the State of the Regional Reports”.
The Minister said the RCC would explore the manufacturing, mining, agricultural and tourism potentials of the Region through public-private partnerships to accelerate the growth of the local economy for job creation and eradicate poverty.
He highlighted key agricultural, health, road and educational infrastructure as well as the Government’s flagship policies and programmes being implemented in the Region.
In all, 80 educational infrastructure projects including classroom blocks and dormitories were ongoing, 37 health projects such as hospitals under Agenda 111, community-based health posts and clinics were under construction and three warehouses for food storage as well as 1,424,526 improved seedlings were distributed to 18,349 farmers in the Region.
Damongo, Salaga and Daboya town roads were also being asphalted while the Ghana Highways Authority and the Feeder Roads Department had been undertaking routine maintenance of urban and feeder roads across the Region.
“We’re putting so much resources and expertise in place to ensure that the Savannah Region is calm and peaceful because, that is the only way we would be appealing enough and can attract investors,” Mr Jibri opined.
“No investor would be attracted to a situation of conflict, violence and insecurity. By extension, no development takes place in a situation of insecurity,” the Minister added.
In that regard, Mr Jibril said the Regional Security Council (RESEC) had been engaging with its counterparts in the Northern Region to resolve land boundary disputes between traditional authorities following the creation of the Region in 2019.
The Minister for instance, mentioned some land and boundary litigations between some traditional authorities; which result in occasional tribal clashes such as Nanton Naa in Nanton District in the Northern Region and Kikpandi Wura in the North East Gonja District of the Savannah Region.
The Wasipewura in the North Gonja District of the Savannah Region and Tolon Naa in the Tolon District of the Northern Region.
“I’m convinced that with peace and unity, the Savannah Region will become a beacon of development for the nation,” Mr Jibril emphasised.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has described as “disconcerting” news that some $100 million has been diverted from petroleum funds for unapproved expenditure.
Mr. Mahama said Section 3 of the PRMA (Act 815) is explicit that all Petroleum revenue due the Republic derived from whatever source shall be assessed, collected and accounted for by the Ghana Revenue Authority.
In a Facebook post, he quoted Section (15) of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act (Act 919), which states that “Any borrowing exceeding the cedi equivalent of thirty million United States Dollars for exploration, development and production shall be approved by Parliament and shall be in consonance with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.”
He said there can be no justification for diverting revenues accruing from the nation’s share of petroleum resources into any other account aside from the PHF.
The former President, therefore, called on the Minister for Finance to immediately repatriate all such illegal payments back into the PHF without delay as there is no record to confirm parliamentary approval on any such loans acquired by GNPC in their work programme.
According to him, the money was used to settle upfront, a loan taken from the ministry of finance by GNPC Subsidiaries, to acquire a seven per cent stake in the TEN and Jubilee oil fields on behalf of the state.
In his view, therefore, even though administrative processes may not have been followed in terms of lodging the money in the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF), no harm was done to the state by the upfront payment of the loan taken by GNPC Subsidiaries using that quantum of petroleum receipts.
Mr Atta Akyea told Kofi Oppong Asamoah on Class91.3FM’s breakfast show on Friday, 30 September 2020: “Well, I think it’s a storm in a teacup because sometimes the impression is being given that the money has been spirited away”.
According to him, “there’s a whole debate, as to whether or not some money should be lodged in the petroleum holding fund, so, it’s an interpretation and accounting”.
The former minister of Works and Housing said his crosschecks show that “there was an opinion from the attorney general to the effect that they needn’t place the money in that account for the simple reason that there’s a seven-per cent equity acquisition in the TEN and Jubilee fields by GNPC Subsidiary and they didn’t have the money so the ministry of finance borrowed them the money so they do this acquisition; they are trying to improve the governmental stakes in these petroleum blocks”.
“When they [GNPC Subsidiaries] took the loan, they were unable to pay, so, they used the petroleum receipts due them to settle it, so, the ministry of finance took the money and paid for the loan upfront,” Mr. Atta Akyea explained.
“The whole problem is simple: that the sheer fact that the money was not lodged in the PHF does not mean the money has been spirited away or stolen. … It’s all a balancing account, but when push it to the political dimension that some money has been spirited away, it leaves much to be desired,” he added.
He said: “The sum of money, if you look at it, is equal to the seven per cent equity stake that the government, through GNPC Subsidiary, has acquired. Let’s look at it from that perspective. So, when somebody is using his ingenuity to confer advantage and benefit to Ghana, ultimately, how can that be a problem?”
“And if the money was not so lodged in the PHF but it is shown that, indeed, the shares have been acquired, and the shares have been paid for, how can that be anything to undermine this country, financially?” he wondered.
He continued: “Are we looking at the substance or the form? The sheer fact that the money was not lodged in the account, but the money has been applied as it can be applied in the share acquisition to the benefit of Ghana”.
Mr. Atta Akyea, who is the MP for Akim Abuakwa South in the Eastern Region, said: “My concern, with the greatest of respect, is that even if administrative processes were not followed, is there any disadvantage to Ghana when seven per cent shares have been acquired in the TEN and Jubilee fields?”
“That is the point of the matter. If administrative procedures were not followed, has it caused any financial loss to the state or it has helped us financially because if we are not careful, anything becomes political and propaganda”.
He added: “My joy is that no money has been lost to the state yet because we have gained. If there are any tax implications on this transition, then they should be called upon to pay the tax”.
505 trainee artisans enrolled in the 2021/2022 edition of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation’s (GNPC) Skilled Artisans Project in the Ashanti Region have completed their National Vocational Training Institute’s (NVTI) skill proficiency exams organized and funded by the GNPC Foundation.
Beneficiary artisans from several centres across the region including Mampong, Bekwai, Offinso and Kumasi had their competencies tested in various vocational skills such as the Domestic module which is made up of cookery, bakery, dressmaking, tailoring, hairdressing, make-up artistry, and interior designing and decoration.
Others were also tested under the Technical module which is made up of plumbing, carpentry, auto-mechanics, general electrical, and aluminium fabrication.
Speaking during a visit to the Kumasi Vocational Technical Institute centre on the final day of examination, the Executive Director of the GNPC Foundation, Dr. Dominic Eduah, said the NVTI certification phase of the project is necessitated by the need to boost their employability and credibility as trained artisans.
He explained that the Skilled Artisans Project as a livelihood empowerment programme is designed to support the youth across the country with the much-needed technical and vocational skills that could match up with the best standards anywhere while offering young people who are inspired to learn these important trade skills the requisite tools and equipment needed to start their own entrepreneurial businesses in a bid to make them economically independent.
The project is being implemented in 5 regions of the country comprising Western, Central, Greater Accra, Eastern and Ashanti.
The project is seeking to positively affect the lives of some 2050 artisans with more expected to benefit from other regions in subsequent editions.
The place which had been set as one of the examination centres for the artisans was visited by Dr. Eduah and his team on the final day of the examination.
The Executive Director of the foundation who expressed joy over how the beneficiaries had been co-operating in the various aspects commended
the government for doing massive investments in the various NVTI centers he had so far visited.
505 artisans across the various districts within the Ashanti region were sponsored by the foundation to undertake NVTI certification exams.
The GNPC’s Skilled Artisan Project (SAP) which enrolled various artisans from various fields seeks to equip them with upgraded skills and earn them credible certificates to move their status from informal to semi-formal.
Beneficiary artisans who were placed at several centres across the region such as Ofinso, Mampong, Kumasi, Bekwai, Suame, etc had their capabilities tested in various vocational skills.
The vocational skills, according to Dr. Eduah, were categorised under the ‘Domestic Module’ which include cookery, bakery, dressmaking, tailoring, hairdressing, interior designing & decoration, and make-up artistry,
and ‘Technical Module’, which also include plumbing, carpentry, auto-mechanics, general electrical, and aluminium fabrication.
According to the executive director, one thing that had helped the project succeed was how easily they got access to the needed resources at the various NVTI centres.
“I want to thank the government for doing that.
Everywhere we go, we use NVTI centers, and I must say that the government did well by providing the numerous NV centers with the necessary funding.
If we’re talking about current machines, I have to admit that everything is still in working order.
Now, I can claim that this location serves as an oven center for sprayers because of how nicely outfitted it is “. However, he urged everyone, particularly the media, to inform the public about it so that everyone would recognize the government for such a tremendous investment.
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Foundation has cautioned the general public against persons impersonating their staff and falsifying scholarship award letters to some partner universities.
The Foundation, in a public notice, said, it has intercepted some fake documents and letters of scholarship awarded to some persons.
It said the Foundation is currently investigating the matter and will bring the perpetrators to book.
The notice asked the public to desist from such fraudulent activities as offenders, would be prosecuted.
Mr. Kennedy Atiibo Ayatah, the acting Ahafo Regional Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council (NPC), has called on the youth in ‘hotspots communities’ not to devalue themselves and allow political parties to use them as tools to cause political violence before, during and after Election 2020.
He reminded the youth that vigilantism and related activities had been outlawed in the country, saying any youth who allowed politicians to use him or her for such political violent activities would face the consequences.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of a dialogue session held at Goaso, Mr. Ayatah advised the youth to instead, serve as peace ambassadors and guard against behaviours that could trigger political violence and disturb the prevailing peace of the nation.
The NPC in collaboration with Ashesi University, with support from Commonwealth, organised the two-day meeting, which was attended by 35 youth groups in the Region.
They were selected from political “hotspot communities” including Sankore, Kwapong, Kukuom, Nkasiem, Dadiesoba, Acherensua, and Hwidiem.
As a new region, Mr. Ayatah noted peace was required to give Ahafo strong footings to facilitate rapid socio-economic development saying “if the search for peace is not achieved, all other efforts will not lead to anything”.
“So, peace is a central development requirement and human development indicator, that should not be undermined at all,” he added.
Mr. Ayatah indicated that the youth who were the future leaders of the country had been actively involved in political activities since 1960 with accompanying conflicts that often threatened the peace architecture of the nation.
Their youthful exuberance and eagerness to participate in decision-making activities that affected them, make them prone to being manipulated by older people and some politicians to their advantage to cause mayhem in the country.
Despite all these, Mr. Ayatah expressed regret that the focus on conflict prevention in the country had been mainly on equipping traditional, religious, and community leaders and professional bodies in promoting non-violence to the neglect of youth associations who had become vulnerable to violent vigilante activities.
He, therefore, called on the leadership of the various political parties to be sincere to the people they sought to govern saying, “if you use violence to acquire political power, it would not bring any development to the people”.
Mr. Ayatah reminded the youth that they were rather going to suffer the consequences of any post-election violence, hence the need for them to be mindful and appreciate the country’s prevailing peace.
Dr. Enyonam C. Kudonoo, a Senior Lecturer, Ashesi University, and a facilitator told the youth they had potentials in them and so they should not engage in political violence that would ruin their future.
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is locked up in a stand-off with the organisers of the national boxing league, Bukom Fist of Fury, over $30,000 sponsorship money.
This follows what the organisers deem to be a breach of contract on the part of GNPC, which is one of the sponsors of the special boxing competition.
According to sources close to the organisers of the boxing league, the state-owned company issued a cheque for GHc30,000 to the organisers as a way of fulfilling their contractual obligation but that was rejected on the grounds of bad faith.
The sources told Graphic Sports in an exclusive interview that GNPC sponsored the maiden edition of the Fist of Fury in 2019 with $34,000 and agreed to support the second edition with $30,000 but reneged on its promise in January this year.
The sources said the GNPC cheque was rejected because the sponsor was obliged to pay $30,000 as stated in the contract.
The sources wondered why the GNPC decided to pay a lesser amount despite having the exact figure clearly stated in the contract.
The sources also believed the turn of events could affect the resumption of the league and, therefore, appealed to top GNPC officials to step in and sort things out.
“It was agreed in the contract that GNPC will support us with $30,000, but when the cheque came, it was GHc30,000 and that baffled us.
“We really need the money to help in our organisation and it will be good for the GNPC leadership to come to our aid to sort this matter out,†the source told the Graphic Sports.
The Bukom Fist of Fury is an annual boxing league made up of juvenile, amateur and professional fights. It is a collaborative league being organised by the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) and Ghana Amateur Boxing Federation (GBF).
The competition was suspended following the ban on all sporting activities in the country due to the COVID-19 restrictions. But with the green light now given by the government for contact sports to resume, the organisers are looking forward to staging one fight night before the end of the year.
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Foundation has supported Peki Senior High School in the South Dayi District of the Volta Region with 240 mono desks.
The Foundation also presented six maker boards, and six teacher writing tables and chairs, aimed at providing conducive environment to enhance teaching and learning in the School.
Dr Dominic Eduah, Executive Director of GNPC Foundation, said the Foundation was providing the support because it recognised education as one of the tools that could be used in individual and societal development.
He said the support was also to complement efforts by the government in ensuring quality education in the country as government alone could not shoulder all the challenges bedevilling the educational sector.
Dr. Eduah said the Foundation operated on a three pillar- education and training, environment and social amenities and economic empowerment, and had so far provided about 13,000 mono-desks to schools across the country, adding that similar support would be extended to other schools.
Mr Ernest Kodzo Mallet, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for South Dayi in the Volta Region said infrastructure and furniture deficit in schools in the District were challenges the Government and Ghana Education Service (GES) were working towards addressing.
He said the Government and Ministry of Education were determining to ensure that free senior high school was in a conducive environment to make learning effective and advised the students to take good care of the furniture.
Mr Jonathan Delase Agbley, Headmaster of Peki Senior High School, commended GNPC Foundation for the gesture and called on stakeholders and non-governmental organisations to come on board to support Peki Senior High School with other amenities.
One of the anti-corruption agencies in Ghana, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has been caught in a web of conflicting interests, as it has emerged that it is busily receiving funding from the country’s oil exploration company which EOCO is ordinarily supposed to be investigating.
Besides receiving its statutory payments from the Consolidated Fund, EOCO has since 2018 gotten over Two Million Cedis (GHS 2 million) from the country’s national oil exploration firm, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
Leaked documents from GNPC indicates that the organisation paid GHS 1 million to EOCO in August 2018, paid them GHS 550,000 in October 2019 and after a December 2019 and January 2020 board meetings, decided to increase the funds allocated to the anti-corruption agency, by paying another GHS 1 million.
This consistent approval of funds to EOCO has raised eyebrows. The motivation to pay out such huge amounts of moneys to an independent watchdog organization has been described as improper and unholy. The Public Interest and Accountability Committee last year complained when the GHS 550,000 that GNPC paid to EOCO came into the public domain.
During that discussion, the no-nonsense Auditor General of the Republic, Mr Daniel Domelevo frowned on the payment and wondered about the impartiality with which EOCO can investigate GNPC management and ensure accountability, and prove it’s independence.
The Chairman of GNPC Board of Directors who happens to be the Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Freddy Blay was a subject of a petition that the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) announced it was sending to EOCO, over some financial arrangements he the Chairman had made to buy buses for his party and boost his campaign fortunes.
It was in that same year of 2018 that EOCO received the first payment of GHS 1 million from GNPC. Therefore tongues are wagging as to whether there is no correlation between the supposed EOCO investigations into the finances of the Chairman and the newly found use for the country’s oil revenues.
Interestingly, Mr Freddy Blay in November 2019, went on Asempa FM to describe the leaked 2019 GHS 550,000 payment to EOCO, as improper and not well thought through. He went further to say that he has taken steps to stop the cheque from going to EOCO.
The latest revelations from GNPC, however, tells a different story.
The files from the petroleum corporation indicate that prior to the October 2019 payment of GHS 550,000 to EOCO, Chairman Freddy Blay’s GNPC board had paid an amount of GHS 1 million to the same EOCO.
Again, the leaked documents indicate that besides the GHS 550,000 payment which leaked in November 2019, a fresh amount of GHS 1 million has in January, 2020 been paid to EOCO, contrary to Chairman Freddy Blay’s claims of stopping the payment to EOCO.
