The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has asked the government to punish officials and state agencies indicted in the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) report for alleged wrongful usage of oil revenue.
PIAC has accused two institutions, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) of unlawfully keeping oil revenue in their accounts instead of transferring the amounts into the Ghana Petroleum Holding Funds, as stated in the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.
[contextly_sidebar id=”7kcvuUsEJmJJUpCypKSDbs4dBzbBGMrc”]Speaking on Citi TV’s Breakfast Daily, the Director of Operations of the PPP, Nana Ofori Owusu, said the only way to curb the recurring trend is for those involved to be sanctioned.
“Two bodies were mentioned in this whole report; GRA and GNPC …Some monies that were supposed to have been transferred into government coffers were not transferred. I am sure that some infractions were noted. The people in charge or the people who were supposed to have done this have to go back and rectify this as soon as possible. And for me, it is not just enough for people to go back and rectify it.
“I think as a nation, when people are found culpable, they should be held responsible because people are in positions of authority and they are suppose to hold those positions for the whole of Ghana. You cannot sit in your office and do not know what the Revenue Management Act is saying. If you do not know what the provisions of the law is then you do not have any business being in that office.”
Details of report
In the 2017 report, the GNPC and GRA were supposed to transfer a total of $13,618,511.78 to the Ghana Petroleum Holding Fund for onward distribution into the statutory funds prescribed by the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.
However, these two institutions have failed to transfer the funds as far back as 2017.
Out of the $13 million, the GRA wrongfully received a sum of $13,518,852.98 into its accounts contrary to the provisions of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.
This money was supposed to be paid by the Oil companies to the Petroleum Holding Fund, but was mistakenly paid to the GRA, even though it was not the first time the oil companies were making such payments to the Petroleum Holding Fund.
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By: Marian Ansah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana