Former president John Dramani Mahama has asked the Finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to as a matter of urgency refund the Petroleum funds of $100 million diverted for an unapproved expenditure.
According to Mr. Mahama, the amount exceeding the cedi equivalent of $30 million should have had Parliamentary approval before it could be expended according to Section (15) of the PEPA (Act 919).
The former president says the GRA’s role in such funds as explicit in Section 3 of the PRMA (Act 815) was not adhered to and therefore finds “no justification for diverting revenues accruing from the nation’s share of petroleum resources into any other account aside the PHF.”
Below is a full statement sighted by OnuaOnline on John Mahama’s Facebook wall
“News that some $100 million has been diverted from petroleum funds for unapproved expenditure is most disconcerting.
“Section 3 of the PRMA (Act 815) is explicit that all Petroleum revenue due the Republic derived from whatever source shall be assessed, collected and accounted for by the Ghana Revenue Authority.
“Section (15) of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act (Act 919), is also clear that “Any borrowing exceeding the cedi equivalent of thirty million United States Dollars for the purpose of exploration, development and production shall be approved by Parliament and shall be in consonance with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.”
“There can be no justification for diverting revenues accruing from the nation’s share of petroleum resources into any other account aside the PHF.
“The Minister for Finance must as a matter of urgency repatriate all such illegal payments back into the PHF without delay as there is no record to confirm parliamentary approval on any such loans acquired by GNPC in their work programme,” he wrote.
Source: Onuaonline.com|Ghana
