Media practitioners in the Bono Region have been asked to monitor and report on projects being financed by oil revenue proceeds to ensure that the public is informed.
Chairman of the Public Affairs Committee of PIAC, Nana Kwaku Dei, made this appeal during a media engagement in Sunyani, discussing PIAC’s latest findings on compliance and utilization of oil revenues for 2023.
Sharing the findings with media practitioners, Nana Kwaku Dei lamented the absence of a long-term development plan to guide the utilization of oil revenue, which allows politicians to exploit loopholes in the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.
He noted that 5% of the annual budget funding amount to the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) is often not used according to guidelines and called for a change.
He further noted that these funds are intended for capital projects, but 80% of the amount is used for goods and services, contrary to the law, which specifies that the ministry should allocate about 70% to capital projects.
“Instead, these funds are used in areas where politicians hope to derive electoral gains rather than for capital projects,” he said.
He emphasized that PIAC is not involved in project settings and funds disbursement for projects and therefore called on journalists to exercise oversight responsibility and expose any wrongdoing.
He also appealed to journalists to act as watchdogs and hold public officials accountable for their actions by undertaking thorough research and asking questions before reporting on issues.
“There is a need for journalists to be impartial and uphold their professional code of ethics” he added.
Nana Kwaku Dei expressed satisfaction that Sunyani is benefiting from road projects funded by oil money under the inspection of PIAC, including the Sunyani Estate roads, Odumase roads, and Sunyani Ring Road around Tyco.
He noted that costs continue to be significantly high in the TEN (Tweneboa Enyenra Ntomme) fields while production remains low by more than three (3) million barrels compared to the Sankofa Gye Nyame (SGN) field, even though there is no drilling in both fields.
The Petroleum Revenue Management oversight organization expressed satisfaction that GNPC was able to recover an amount of $680,153,216.63 from BOST’s indebtedness dating back to 2015, stating it is commendable.
By Daniel Y. Dayee, Sunyani