The Minority in Parliament is demanding an immediate transfer of the shares of Jubilee Oil Holdings Limited (JOHL) to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to assure Ghanaians of appropriate oversight on the asset.
This, the Minority said, will go a long way to ensure proper accountability and effective monitoring of the revenues accruing from Ghana’s petroleum resources.
According to the side, the clandestine attempt by the Energy Minister and the Board Chairman of GNPC to offload 50% of JOHL to South Africa’s PetroSA is odd in view of the fact this does not advance the interest of the Ghanaian people.
A statement by Minority leader, Dr. Casiel Ato Forson, demanded GNPC to explain clearly the situation and the reasons and thinking behind the happenings.
The JOHL assets, he said, were acquired by the Republic of Ghana, thus belong to the people of Ghana and expressed concern at how the assets of JOHL are held and managed.
“The late President John Evans Atta Mills, may he rest in peace, enacted the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), 2011 (Act 81 5) which provided regulation over how revenue from Ghana’s oil and gas resources are to be managed.”
“As required by the Act, Revenues from the assets are accrued to or disbursed from the Petroleum Holding Fund. It is therefore concerning to note that the JOHL assets are not currently subject to PRMA provisions nor are JOHL revenues remitted to the Petroleum Holding Fund.”
“The question then arises, if the JOHL asset is as valuable as reported and revenues from it are not remitted to the Petroleum Fund, where are the revenues lodged, how are they used, and under which governance structure are they managed? Does the Auditor-General get to see accounts?”
JOHL revenues, according to the Minority leader, are currently used as a slush fund to pursue all manner of business that has not been approved by Parliament under the usual GNPC budget approval process and cited the recent lodgement of $ 100 million of oil revenues in the accounts of JOHL as an example.
He also expressed concern at how the government is attempting to refinance GNPC’s current debts by using JOHL’s assets to do so with LITASCO.
“One of the key tenets of the PRMA is to limit the government of the day on how much “forward selling” of its oil and gas assets, it can do, so as not to mortgage off Ghana’s future. Such an act would lack transparency, add debt to an already debt-distressed country that is under an IMF program, and may indeed be unconstitutional,” he said.
Dr. Ato Forson explained that the Minority will file an urgent question for a clarification of this whole saga upon the resumption of Parliament.
The reported divestment of part of Ghana’s stake in JOHL has been a matter of intense discussions in the media these past few days with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) demanding the resignation of the board chair of GNPC for his role.