GNPC ‘hot’ over planned sponsorship, donations worth over GH¢2m

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has come under criticism over the budget of about GH¢ 2 million for donation and sponsorship of some public functions.

An internal memo sighted by Citi News showed that various amounts were given to the First Lady’s Foundation, Rebecca Foundation; The Ghana Journalists Association, and the celebration of the Okyenhene’s 20th Anniversary.

The memo, dated 29th October 2019 from the Board Secretary to the Chief Executive indicated that the donations and sponsorship had been approved by the GNPC board upon a recommendation by the Brand, Communication and CSR Committee of GNPC.

See the full list of planned donations and sponsorship are below:

1. 2019 Damba Festival Preparation – Dagbon State – GH¢ 400,000.00

2. 20th Anniversary of Okyenhene – GH¢ 500,000.00 over three years totaling (GH 1,500,000.00) for the environment and greening

i. GH¢ 300,000.00 for organization of 20th Anniversary celebrations.

3. Ghana Journalists Association – GH¢ 50,000.00

4. Ghana Boxing Association – US$ 30,000.00

5. Rebecca Foundation – GH¢ 120,000.00

6. EOCO – GH¢ 550,000.00

The concerns by a section of the public over the development were expressed by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy in February this year when it emerged that the corporation in its work programme for the 2019 financial year planned to spend $43.05 million on CSR but only $20.3 million on its operations in the Voltaian Basin and its subsidiaries in the sector.

“While GNPC, like any corporate entity, has a responsibility towards society, it is unusual for sound corporate organisations to spend more than 10% of its cash flow (not profit) on corporate social responsibility,” ACEP said in its report.

The Executive Director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, Professor Newman Kwadwo Kusi also recently cautioned GNPC against making such huge spending on CSR rather than the company’s core operations.