Ghana government gives PIAC GH¢150,000 since inception

More than one year after the Public Interest and Accountability Commitee (PIAC) was set up, it has received only an amount of GH¢150,000 from the government of Ghana for its work.

But a member of the committee, Mr. Ishmael Edjekumhene says the amount is not sufficient to pay even for office accommodation.

He told ghanabusinessnews.com in a telephone interview that, that money was given a couple of months ago for the Committee’s operations.

“We used some of the money for our operations and we used the rest to pay for rent advance for office accommodation, but we can’t move in because we have not paid all the required amount,” he said.

The 13-member Committee was set up by government in September 2011to monitor Ghana’s petroleum revenue and investments, but after one year of its establishment, the Committee has no office nor office equipment of its own, and members have not been paid allowances.

Mr. Edjekumhene said the GH¢150,000 the Committee received is about 10% of the budget it submitted to government.

He also indicated that the government gave the Committee a ceiling on how much it should pay for accommodation.

“The government told us we can only spend up to $1,200 a month for office accommodation,” he said.

According to him, that has limited the Committee to looking for office accommodation that would cost that amount.

The Committee however, he said is getting assistance from the German bilateral organisation GIZ and Revenue Watch Institute to do its work.

He also told ghanabusinessnews.com that the first draft of the Committee’s report for this year has been written and it is awaiting technical review this week.

The establishment of the committee is a requirement of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act. It has the responsibility to monitor and evaluate compliance with the Act by government and other relevant institutions in the management and use of petroleum revenues and investments.

It was to provide independent assessment of how petroleum revenues are managed and used as stipulated by the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815).

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi