Ghana: Oil Cash Will Benefit Ghanaians – Akufo-Addo

Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo says his administration is committed to ensuring that the country’s petroleum revenues are well managed for the benefit of Ghanaians.

He said government was determined to leverage the country’s hydrocarbon resources for the economic transformation of Ghana.

President Akufo-Addo gave the assurance while delivering a speech at the launch of the 10th anniversary celebration of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) in Accra on Wednesday.

PIAC, established in 2011, is an independent statutory body mandated to promote transparency and accountability in the management of petroleum revenues in Ghana. The anniversary celebration will be observed on the theme: “Strengthening Citizens Ownership and Understanding of PIAC and its Oversight of Petroleum Revenue Management”.

Congratulating PIAC on its decade of existence, President Akufo-Addo noted that the statutory body since its inception had lived up to its mandate as set out in the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), 2011 (Act 815), and applauded it for performing its functions creditably and successfully.

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According to him, although relations between the PIAC and government had sometimes been stormy in the past, his administration since 2017 had largely enjoyed cordial and fruitful interaction with the body, resulting in the prudent use of Ghana’s petroleum revenues for the welfare and benefit of Ghanaians.

The President reiterated on government’s commitment to supporting the PIAC to ensure the efficient management of petroleum revenues for sustainable development, assuring that all budgetary allocation made to the body would be forthcoming and on time to enable it to fulfil its mandate.

He however drew attention to the delay in transmission of information between the PIAC and the Ministry of Finance, resulting in distortions in deadline schedules of reporting obligations of the two institutions, which sometimes stoked needless controversy, and suggested an amendment of the relevant provisions in the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to resolve the situation.

Source: www.energynewsafrica.com