Oil and Opportunity In Ghana
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If you ask most Ghanaians how they would like to see their country in the next thirty years, undoubtedly, their answer would be to see less corrupt and more prosperous. Indeed, Ghanaians do deserve to have a country as such and indeed, they are starting to see such prosperity today.
It appears as though Ghana will retain 38% of its domestic oil revenue, an advisor to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Joe Amoako-Tuffuor has stated, quoting a Daily Graphic report from March 6, 2010.
With the country’s current GDP at well over $18 billion, Dr Oteng-Adjei said the total revenue to the government and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in respect of royalties, income tax and interest payment on oil and gas exploration would be $1 billion per annum, at an average crude oil price of $60 per barrel.
With oil, telecoms and alternative investors pouring in to the country, we mustn’t take a blind eye to the gaping holes in their sustainable development plan, one of which, being ongoing corruption in governance.
The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) on Tuesday expressed concern about the inaction of Ghana’s parliament in the fight against corruption.
The group said it was not enough for Parliament to hold public hearings where officials were made to answer questions on audit reports but no actions were taken to deter others from engaging in similar practices.
Mr. Edward Bawa, a member of the CJA, said this at a press conference in Accra on the findings contained in the 2008 Auditor General’s report into the public accounts of Ghana.
He urged Parliament to prosecute officials found culpable of misapplying state funds to take steps to seal the loopholes that enabled such reprehensible crimes to be committed against the people of Ghana. “We insist that the laws governing the utilization of public funds must be rigorously adhered to in order to spare the long suffering masses of this country the agony of watching on helplessly as their taxes are stolen by greedy and unscrupulous officials,” he said. Mr Bawa said total irregularities in 2008 alone amounted to GHc 166.1 million, representing an increase of 177.4 per cent over that of the previous year.
Yes, we are looking at a growing Ghana, a nation with great potential and great opportunity. With this opportunity however, comes an unspoken responsibility to ensure a just and sound nation for Ghanaians. Abiding by the rule of law, exposing corruption and promoting transparency are fundamental steps their government must take to ensure such positive development takes place and sustains.