The Minority in Parliament is alleging it has uncovered a move by government to hand over Ghana’s natural gas resources to a foreign company without parliamentary approval.
The arrangement, according to the Minority, was originally between the State and a foreign company. But in an alleged move to bypass the requirement for a Parliamentary approval, an entity has been registered in Ghana to proceed with the contract.
Minority Spokesperson on Mines and Energy, John Abdulai Jinapor, says the contract has been shrouded in opacity and smacks of corruption.
In an exclusive interview with TV3’s Parliamentary Affairs correspondent, Komla Klutse Monday, May 06, 2024, Mr. Jinapor indicated that the Minority is of the know of pressure from some high ranking government officials to the Chief Executive of Ghana Gas to approve some of the contracts they deem dubious.
“We have taken delivery of documents which suggests that the award of a contract for what is technically known as GPP2 which is the second phase of the gas infrastructure for Ghana which was undertaken under very opaque, dubious, and suspicious circumstance and indeed we are getting confirmation that the original company that bid for this contract was a foreign company because of greed, because of corruption, top elements in government have connived to constitute a local company, in order to avoid parliamentary scrutiny. Article 181 is clear that international contracts ought to be submitted to Parliament for scrutiny and approval.
“We in the Minority wish to send a caution and let me make it clear that we are aware unimpeachable information indicates that some high ranking officials in government are pressurising the Chief Executive of the Ghana Gas Company to sign some of these dubious contracts,” he alleged.
The Yapei Kusawgu Member of Parliament issued a word of caution to the government that the next NDC administration will not respect any such contracts that are shrouded in opacity.
“Let me make it clear without equivocation that the next John Mahama administration will not be bound by illegal contracts. In as much as we respect the sanctity of contracts, we will not honour illegitimate, illegal, opaque, clandestine contracts that go against the Republic of Ghana,” he forewarned.
