TOR’s debt that was meant to be serviced by 2019 balloo ned to over 500 million under the NPP - Edem Tamaklo

Government Communications member Edem Tamaklo has raised serious concerns about what he describes as alarming mismanagement of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) under the previous NPP administration.

According to him, TOR’s debt which had been strategically structured to be fully serviced by 2019 spiralled out of control and shockingly ballooned to over $500 million after the NPP assumed office in 2017.

He argued that this dramatic escalation reflects a clear departure from fiscal discipline and exposes the failure of oversight that plunged the refinery into deeper financial distress.

Speaking on GTV Breakfast, Mr. Tamaklo explained that the NPP inherited a refinery placed on a recovery trajectory, with active restructuring plans and debt-servicing mechanisms set in motion by the previous NDC government.

However, he alleged that poor decision-making, weak managerial supervision, and politically motivated appointments disrupted the refinery’s progress. These lapses, he said, crippled TOR’s ability to operate efficiently and placed further burden on the state, workers, and the broader petroleum sector.

MR. Tamaklo emphasised that the ballooning of TOR’s debt is not just a financial setback but a national crisis, given the refinery’s critical role in Ghana’s energy sector.