BOST saga: Political twist not helpful – PIAC

The political football to which issues surrounding the alleged sale of contaminated fuel onto the market by the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) have been subjected is unfortunate because it has the propensity of diverting attention from the real facts of the situation, Kwame Jantuah, Deputy Chair of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), has said.

According to him, the accusations and counter- accusations being thrown out there by both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) undermine the work of the committee set up by the Minister of Energy Boakye to probe this matter.

Commenting on TV3’s New Day on Saturday July 1, Mr Jantuah said: “The question I ask myself is why this matter should become political? The Minister of Energy, who has oversight responsibilities over these things, has set up a committee and the committee is made up of distinguished institutions like the BNI and the like. Why don’t we wait for those results before politicians now pick it up?

“’This one has hit me so I have to hit him back!’ This does not help us. Yes, Ghana seems to have lost money with this, it seems to me that this is a business that is going on not only to outsiders but also within BOST itself, but I think we should wait for the committee’s work and not use this as a political platform. It doesn’t help any of us, it doesn’t help the general public, it doesn’t help the politicians themselves. It rather creates a certain kind of lack of confidence in the people who are supposed to oversee things on behalf of Ghanaians.

“For me, I think the Minister has set up a committee and let’s wait for what the committee has to say.”