Ghana’s former president John Dramani Mahama and the flag-bearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress for the December 7 General Election has declared his intention to investigate the God-For-Oil (G4O) programme introduced by the current government of Nana Akufo-Addo.
He argued that the G4O programme introduced in 2021 by the current the government to address the cedi depreciation and the hike in fuel prices lacks transparency and warrants thorough investigations.
Speaking at the 3rd Annual Transformational Dialogue on Small-scale Mining at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani, Mr Mahama said the deal would be looked at again should he form the next government.
“We will investigate the opaque gold for oil programme and expose the actors benefiting from this so-called barter agreement.
“Reports reaching me suggest that a new debt burden is being created because Ghana has not been able to keep up with its delivery of gold under the programme.”
Under the ‘G4O’ programme, Ghana aims to secure competitively priced oil by selling gold to ease pressure on the Cedi (its local currency), reverse rocketing fuel prices and fix the balance of payment problems.
By March 2023, more than 60,000 ounces of gold valued at over US$97 million had been purchased from local mines, but the PMMC is targeting at least 160,000 ounces of gold valued at about US$300 million per month, which could help purchase about 50 per cent of the country’s monthly oil demand.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com