'Managing resources demands more than transparency'

Ms Mona Quartey, the Deputy Minister for Finance, has observed that transparency alone could not gurantee sound management of the extractive resources of the country.

She, therefore, called for the strengthening of the link between transparency, accountability and the overall development of the country.

Ms Quartey was speaking at the opening of Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Dissemination Workshop for Parliamentarians in Koforidua.

Ms Quartey urged Parliament to do more in monitoring the collection and the use of the revenue from the extractive industry, by passing the right legislations and ensuring that all agreements ratified were mutually beneficial to the country and the investors.

In a speech read on behalf of the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Nii Osah Mills, he explained that the country adopted the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to ensure improvement in transparency and accountability in the management of revenues from natural resources to facilitate the use of such revenues to promote sustainable socio-economic development.

He said for the success of the EITI, the role of Parliament was very critical, because it was the only body empowered by the Constitution to scrutinize government policies and expenditure, and shape policies through the law-making process.

Dr Steve Manteaw of ISODEC, called for determined efforts to manage public expectation of the oil revenues.

He said revenue from other resources of the country like gold and cocoa, were far in excess of what the country earned from oil and if those revenues had been around for many years and had not turn the economy of the country around, the recent oil fine could not do that magic in just some few years.