GNPC buys SFO's silence

One of the anti-corruption agencies in Ghana, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has been caught in a web of conflicting interests, as it has emerged that it is busily receiving funding from the country's oil exploration company which EOCO is ordinarily supposed to be investigating.

Besides receiving its statutory payments from the Consolidated Fund, EOCO has since 2018 gotten over Two Million Cedis (GHS 2 million) from the country's national oil exploration firm, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

Leaked documents from GNPC indicates that the organisation paid GHS 1 million to EOCO in August 2018, paid them GHS 550,000 in October 2019 and after a December 2019 and January 2020 board meetings, decided to increase the funds allocated to the anti-corruption agency, by paying another GHS 1 million.

This consistent approval of funds to EOCO has raised eyebrows. The motivation to pay out such huge amounts of moneys to an independent watchdog organization has been described as improper and unholy. The Public Interest and Accountability Committee last year complained when the GHS 550,000 that GNPC paid to EOCO came into the public domain.

During that discussion, the no-nonsense Auditor General of the Republic, Mr Daniel Domelevo frowned on the payment and wondered about the impartiality with which EOCO can investigate GNPC management and ensure accountability, and prove it's independence.

The Chairman of GNPC Board of Directors who happens to be the Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Freddy Blay was a subject of a petition that the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) announced it was sending to EOCO, over some financial arrangements he the Chairman had made to buy buses for his party and boost his campaign fortunes.

It was in that same year of 2018 that EOCO received the first payment of GHS 1 million from GNPC. Therefore tongues are wagging as to whether there is no correlation between the supposed EOCO investigations into the finances of the Chairman and the newly found use for the country's oil revenues.

Interestingly, Mr Freddy Blay in November 2019, went on Asempa FM to describe the leaked 2019 GHS 550,000 payment to EOCO, as improper and not well thought through. He went further to say that he has taken steps to stop the cheque from going to EOCO.

The latest revelations from GNPC, however, tells a different story.

The files from the petroleum corporation indicate that prior to the October 2019 payment of GHS 550,000 to EOCO, Chairman Freddy Blay's GNPC board had paid an amount of GHS 1 million to the same EOCO.

Again, the leaked documents indicate that besides the GHS 550,000 payment which leaked in November 2019, a fresh amount of GHS 1 million has in January, 2020 been paid to EOCO, contrary to Chairman Freddy Blay's claims of stopping the payment to EOCO.