GNPC 2019 work programme implementation to delay
ACEP raised the concerns in a detailed analysis of GNPC’s work programme for the 2019 financial year and urged Parliament not to approve the CSR budget for GNPC.
“Parliament should not approve any CSR budget for the Corporation until the end of the fifteen-year financing window provided in the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) has elapsed. This should free up funds for the Corporation to deliver on its core mandate as an upstream oil player,” ACEP recommended.
GNPC is Ghana’s national oil company established in 1983 to support the government’s objective of providing an adequate and reliable supply of petroleum products and reducing the country’s dependence on crude oil imports, through the development of the country’s own petroleum resources. It is a partner in all petroleum agreements in Ghana and the national gas sector aggregator in Ghana.
The Corporation has been in the news in recent times over a seeming turf war between the Chief Executive, Dr. K.K Sarpong and Board Chair, Freddie Blay over the corporation’s procurement functions.
Dr. K. K. Sarpong has been accused of trying to assume the procurement function of the Corporation’s Chief Finance Officer.
But Board Chair of GNPC, Freddie Blay mounted Pressure on Dr. K. K Sarpong, to reverse the decision with immediate effect.
In relation to the development, a policy think tank, Institute for Energy Security had also called on President Nana Akufo-Addo to call the Board Chairman and Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to order.
The civil society body believes this friction undermines the smooth operations of the national oil company.
The IES Executive Director, Paa Kwasi Anamua-Sakyi who spoke to Citi News, said the troubles at GNPC could affect investment in Ghana.
“It is important that the President who has the power to appoint leading personnel in these functional areas should step in and stop this because it can deter investors and so it is important for the number one gentlemen of the
land to make a statement on this and bring these two gentlemen to order,” he added.