The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is being asked to halt financing the ongoing Maritime Dispute between Ghana and Ivory Coast on behalf of the government.
It follows the 36 percent rise in financing the dispute from $1.81 million in 2015 to $2.82 million in 2016. This is contained in the latest Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) report on Management of Petroleum Revenues for 2016.
According to the report, a total of 229.03 million dollars representing approximately 92 percent of total petroleum receipt was allocated during the year under review. Out of the amount, GNPC received 88.50 million dollars in 2016 compared to the 126.86 million dollars it received in 2015 representing a drop of 30 percent, the lowest so far since 2011.
This means GNPC had to rely on its cash reserves, which had been earmarked for milestone projects to fund equally important expenditures such as staff remuneration, general operational and administrative expenses and the cost of the maritime boundary between Ghana and Ivory Coast.
It is against this back drop that the PIAC is asking GNPC to halt financing the maritime dispute on behalf of government.
It is recommending government turns to the Consolidated Fund or Contingency Fund to finance the dispute even before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea delivers its verdict on the case in September this year.
