The Member of Parliament, (MP) for Ho Central, Benjamin Kpodo has accused the management of National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) for breaching The Appropriation Act.
According to him the plan by GNPC to submit to Parliament for approval a budget of US$493. 59 million more than The National Budget must not be allowed.
The MP in an interview with gbcghanaonline.com mentioned that, “they are planning to do deficit budget of US$493 million which is even higher than the total Amount of Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) from oil resources for the whole country, Ghana which is US$478 Million then one company alone is running a deficit of US$493.59 Million and the total budget of GNPC is higher than what The Appropriation Act approved for it in the 2019 budget that why we are calling for it withdraw and reconstruction”.
Commenting on the report of the Select Committee on Mines and Energy on the 2019, programme of activities of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), the MP said, “they should prioritize and bring back their work plans in order for it to fit into the budget that have been approved for them for the 2019 financial year, that is what we are asking for”.
He however, commended The Speaker, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye for deferring the question on the report and stressed,….“yes the speaker did right, they should go back for consultation and re-do the budget and the redoing the budget will occasion the reprioritization of their work plans because the budget is tied to the plan”.
The report has been thoroughly debated and concluded but The Speaker has deferred the question.
The GNPC is seeking that fund to undertake activities captured as “strategic objectives for 2019” as mentioned below:
To efficiently manage upstream oil and gas operations to achieve 95% of agreed, to establish hydrocarbon accumulation in the Voltaian Basin, to efficiently execute all agreed capital projects in a timely manner
To enhance GNPC’s impact on host communities and other stakeholders through Education
Training, Economic Empowerment 86 Environment and Social services by achieving 95% of agreed targets
To strengthen and where necessary develop key corporate policies, systems and processes as well as standard operating procedures and to prudently manage the Corporation’s financial resources to maximize benefits from petroleum operations by achieving 95% of its financial targets.
Story by Edzorna Francis Mensah
