PIAC faults government for breaching Petroleum Act

The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has faulted government for breaching the Petroleum Revenue Management Act 2011 (Act 815) in the disbursement of petroleum revenue. In its 2017 Annual Report presented at a public forum in Takoradi, the committee noted only 37% of the utilised Annual Budget Funding Amount was directed to capital expenditure. The report further stated that the remaining 63% was spent on wrongful payments and activities which contradicts the law. According to the Public Interest and Accountability Committee, government had spent more on goods and services, instead of capital expenditure, as required by law. The Chairman of PIAC, Dr Emmanuel Stephen Manteaw, said the committee was not happy 63%  of the revenue was used for the supply of goods at  hospitals, schools among other things. He noted that the expenditure, as reported by the Ministry of Finance, did not conform to the requirement to spend at least 70% of the ABFA on capital expenditure. Dr Manteaw said the Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) should be put in place to advise the sector minister in the face of the expenditures and various wrong allocations. Other key findings which is of interest to the committee is the Volta River Authority’s indebtedness of $731.35 million to the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) for the supply of lean gas. Dr Manteaw called for improved transparency in the management and disbursement of the Energy Sector Levy  Fund which was established to help liquidate the energy sector’s indebtedness. Deputy Western Regional Minister, Gifty Eugenia Kusi, commended PIAC for keeping the public informed on the oil and gas proceeds. Source| 3news.com| Ghana  ]]>