The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has indicated that the company is in dire need of financial assistance as a result of government’s inability to pay debts owed it since 2014.
GNPC has debts amounting to $21 million and officials of the corporation say they are helpless in the matter.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC), the Deputy Chief Director of the GNPC, Joseph Dadzie, said the situation is affecting the company’s cash flow.
Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a drop in crude oil prices which has taken a toll on the corporation’s finances.
According to Mr. Dadzie, the amount has been outstanding since 2014 and the company needs assistance to settle payments.
“These amounts have been outstanding since 2014/2015 so I think it will be very helpful if we get assistance for the payment of these amounts.”
Meanwhile, the Auditor General’s Department in its 2017 report on public boards indicted management of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation for failing to recover an amount of GhC 778,565,761 from government and other state owned enterprises.
The report also noted that the amounts owed by the government of Ghana, Finance Ministry, Tema Oil Refinery, Ghana Gas have been outstanding since 2015.
Mr Dadzie further disclosed even though the corporation has put measures in place to recover the debts, the development has gravely affected the cash flow of the corporation.
“We don’t have a choice in the matter, we belong to the state so if the state refuses to pay the amount there is really nothing we can do. We have some challenges with cash flow, especially in the era where crude oil prices plummet, it has hit us very hard as far cash flow issues are concerned” he said.
However, during the sitting, there was a heated exchange over GNPC’s allocations to Okyehene, EOCO, and the Rebecca Akuffo-Addo foundation among others. Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram asked why the above mentioned entities received their donations directly from the Corporations coffers without routing through the GNPC foundation.
The question erupted a heated argument which brought an abrupt end to the proceedings.
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I’m Deborah Aba Narkoah. I’m an avid reader, writer and public speaker.
