Muntaka flogs Finance Ministry

The Majority Chief Whip in Parliament, Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka has cast a slur on the Ministry of Finance by stating that they could not be trusted in releasing funds to respective agencies mandated by law.

The Majority Chief Whip made the comments yesterday on the floor of Parliament while arguing against a proposed amendment on the Petroleum Revenue Management amendment bill.

He argued against an amendment that sought to have all oil revenue deposited in the consolidated fund for reconciliation before disbursement to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and other Funds.

“Let us be very careful. The GNPC deals with international companies and they need heavy funding. The behavior of the Finance Ministry cannot be trusted to disburse money when the petroleum revenue hits the account,” he noted.

But, Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei disagreed with the Majority Chief Whip and noted that GNPC also had a track record of spending without Parliamentary approval.

Dr. Osei stated that there is evidence that there are serious difficulties in getting GNPC to transfer monies to the consolidated fund, adding that “the behavior of GNPC cannot be trusted. We know their track record.”

He explained that oil receipts must hit the accounts of the consolidated fund before all transfers were made for effective reconciliation.

Dr. Osei added that the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Ghana should be allowed to manage the fund while measures are put in place to ensure that the Finance Ministry releases all funds on time.

Haruna Iddrisu, Minister for Employment and Labour Relations on his part urged Alhaji Muntaka to abandon his argument and ensure that GNPC was accountable for all approved funds.

MP for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahir Hammond on his part also urged the House not to allow GNPC influence in the debate to amend the bill because they have a lot of outstanding money in their account.

Mr Hammond further noted that GNPC had a bigger agenda to hijack all petroleum revenues for their interest; hence, they should not be given any chance by the law. The House thus amended many clauses of the Bill as proposed and passed it.

The amendments to the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill are to provide for the allocation of Funds to the Ghana Infrastructure and Investment Funds for the purpose of infrastructure development and to provide for the composition of the Investment Advisory Committee.

The Petroleum Revenue Management Act 2011 (815) was enacted to provide a framework for the collection and management of petroleum revenue in a responsible, transparent, accountable and sustainable manner for the benefit of Ghanaians.

However, there are some implementation challenges with some provisions of the Act due to some inconsistencies that ought to be rectified. But, the main substance of Act 815 has generally been maintained in the Bill.