The Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) and the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) have raised serious concerns over what they describe as the unlawful diversion of funds from the LPG Fund to the Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company (GCMC), a state-owned entity.
According to the two industry bodies, the action constitutes a “flagrant breach of statutory mandate, a dangerous sabotage of national energy policy, and an unacceptable betrayal of public trust.”
The LPG Fund was established under Legislative Instruments LI 2262 (as amended) and LI 2481, and was implemented by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) on April 1, 2024.
The Fund has three explicit and legally binding objectives, including the imposition of a USD 44 per metric tonne (MT) Bottling Plant Margin and a USD 36 per MT Cylinder Investment Margin.
These levies are intended to finance the construction and operation of LPG bottling plants nationwide and to fund the rollout of the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) to ensure safe and efficient LPG distribution.
However, the portal understands that more than US$7 million has already been diverted from the Fund.
In a joint statement, CBOD and COMAC stressed that the LPG Fund was never intended to serve as discretionary capital for ad hoc allocations.
They argued that redirecting the funds to GCMC does not represent administrative flexibility but rather a statutory violation that undermines Ghana’s LPG safety and infrastructure framework.
The groups warned that the alleged misappropriation could lead to the destruction of private investment, job losses, consumer exploitation, and investor flight.
“Every diverted cedi erodes competitiveness, freezes critical investment, and transfers wealth from productive enterprise to governmental discretion,” the statement said. “Ghanaians’ confidence in state institutions—earned over decades—is being weaponized to justify institutional pilferage.”
The associations have demanded the immediate cessation of all disbursements from the LPG Fund to GCMC. They are also calling for the reversal of any allocations already made and the restoration of the funds to their lawful purpose.
Furthermore, the groups have served notice of their intention to pursue all legitimate avenues—policy, legal, and public—to defend the rightful utilization of the LPG Fund.
“We will not permit this fund to become a discretionary slush account. We will not remain passive while statutory protections are shredded. We will not accept anything less than full accountability, decisive leadership, and restoration of fund integrity,” the statement concluded.
The National Petroleum Authority, the regulator of Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector, has yet to respond to the allegations.
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