By Ebi Kesiena
Former President John Mahama has waded into the alleged missing $100 million oil cash with a call on the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta to as a matter of urgency repatriate all such illegal payments back into the Petroleum Holding Fund.
The Minority in Parliament who broke the news in a statement expressed worry over the government’s inability to account for over $100 million accruing from Ghana’s Petroleum lifting in the first quarter of 2022.
In a statement signed by the Ranking Member on the Energy and Mines Committee of Parliament, John Abdulai Jinapor said the minority caucus is alarmed that contrary to requirements of the PRMA, revenues accruing from the nation’s oil fields are not being paid into the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF).
However, commenting on the issue, the former President in a Facebook post said “news that some $100 million has been diverted from petroleum funds for unapproved expenditure is most disconcerting.
According to him, 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.
Section (15) of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act (Act 919), is also clear that “Any borrowing exceeding the cedi equivalent of thirty million United States Dollars for the purpose of exploration, development and production shall be approved by Parliament and shall be in consonance with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.”
Mr. Mahama further indicated that “there can be no justification for diverting revenues accruing from the nation’s share of petroleum resources into any other account aside the PHF.”
“The Minister for Finance must as a matter of urgency 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,” he added.
