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No value for money on oil funded projects

No value for money on oil funded projects

A monitoring exercise on some oil funded projects in the three Northern Regions of Ghana has revealed that poor allocation and accompanying monitoring are making it difficult for government to get value on those projects.

While projects are allocated from Accra to the various communtities without the involvement of beneficiaries, failure to monitor the projects has created room for either miuse or diversion of the allocated funds. 

The annual report of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), the committee with oversight responsibility of the management of the country’s oil revenues has captured a number of projects that are said to have benefited from oil in different years. 

Using about five projects in the three Northern regions of Ghana as a test case, it appears some projects captured under the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) are either missing or beneficiaries have no idea about the existence of such projects. 

Monitoring exercise

A team comprising members of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) and journalists from the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ), embarked on a five-day field visit to Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) projects in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions of the country.

The monitoring exercise which was in accordance with the mandate of PIAC to monitor and evaluate compliance with the Petroleum Revenue management Act, PRMA (Act 815) by government and relevant institutions in the management and use of petroleum revenues and investments, was funded by the German Development Co-operation (GIZ).

Projects that were monitored had been captured in the annual report of PIAC as having received funding in either 2014 or 2015. 

They included the construction of a two-storey dormitory block for the Zebilla Senior High Technical School in the Bawku West District in the Upper East region, (GH¢40,505.18), rehabilitation of the Science Resource Centre at St Francis Girls SHS in Jirapa (GH¢44,086.97) and the rehabilitation of the Irrigation dam at Nakori in the Wa Municipality in the Upper West Regions (GH¢15,970).

The rest were electrical works for the upgrade of power supply at Bagabaga College of Education (GH¢248,245) and the construction of a 6-unit classroom block at the Farikiya Islamic Institute in the Northern Region (GH¢30,276.70). 

Some findings

Almost all the project sites visited revealed that people had no idea that those projects were being done with funding from oil revenues. According to the authorities in the  various beneficiary schools, they had no idea about how the projected was allocated as contractors come to the schools to work on the projects from time to time. 

For instance at the Bagabaga College of Education, the Works sub-Supervisor, Mr Awudu Seidu told the team that work on the power supply system had stalled for over three months and attempts to get the contractor to return to work had proved futile. 

He said the electrical wires to aid in stabilising power supply had been installed but a transformer to power the systems was yet to be fixed although it had been purchased, and the school therefore, continued to face an erratic power supply situation.  

The situation was no different at the Saint Francis Girls Senior High School where the rehabilitation works at the science laboratory included only painting, roofing and tiling of the centre. 

Aside having no idea that the rehabilitation was done with oil revenues, the Assistant headmistress in charge of Administration, Sister Martha Kello said the laboratory lacked the needed equipment to make it functional. 

At the Farikiya Islamic Institute, there was no trace of the project being funded with oil revenues, as the inscription at the project site indicated that it was done with funds from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND).

Getting value for money

The Head of Policy at Energy Think tank, Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Dr Ishmael Ackah in an interview said the allocation of oil funded projects without the involvement of beneficiaries was worrying. 

This, he said makes it difficult for people to fully appreciate how the revenues were being managed even though they might have benefited from it in a way.

“Most of the allocations are done from Accra. What we need is a proper value for money guide, fiscal regulations and sanctions as well as a laid down public investment plan so people can be involved in the selection and allocation of projects that will benefit from oil,” he said.  

The Co-chair of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr Steve Manteaw who also expressed concern about the allocation said there was the need to involve the people so they can monitor the projects as well. 

Dr Manteaw, who is also the representative of GHEITI on PIAC, said the current situation of allocating projects from Accra without any recourse to the beneficiaries in the host regions must cease, in order to create value for money on investments made on such projects. 

Public forums

The committee held two public forums in Wa and Bolgatanga respectively in fulfillment of its objectives as enshrined in the PRMA. The two forums brought to 10 the total number of public forums held by PIAC in the 10 regions of Ghana. 

It brought together about 100 participants from Government Departments and Agencies, religious bodies, security agencies, educational institutions, employee associations, and traditional leaders amongst others in each region. 

The Chairman of PIAC, Prof Paul Kinglsey Buah- Bassuah said the purpose of the forum was to consult, engage and inform citizens of the Upper West and Upper East regions on how the government managed its petroleum revenues in 2015.

“The public as a major stakeholder plays a pivotal role in the fulfillment of PIAC’s second objective, hence the need for this engagement to improve collaboration with PIAC in carrying out its activities,” he said. 

Some expected results from the forums were to have an informed citizenry who can hold decision-makers accountable, as well as increase the knowledge-base of citizens about PIAC and its activities. 

 

Writer’s email:[email protected]

 

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