PIAC cites Tullow Oil for wrongful payments

Tullow Ghana Plc has joined the list of oil companies making wrongful lodgments of oil revenues due the government of Ghana.

The 2019 Semi-annual Report of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) cited Tullow of having made a lodgment of $75 million into the account of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) instead of lodging the said amount into the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF).

This wrongful lodgment, according to the PIAC, has attracted a penal interest of $219,041 on the company.

The Chairman of PIAC, Mr. Noble Wadjah, has said the committee is unhappy with the trend of wrongful lodgments by oil companies.

“It’s unacceptable. This cannot be allowed to continue”, Mr. Wadjah told journalists on March 7, 2020 in Koforidua.

He said PIAC would launch investigations into this recurring phenomenon to ascertain the reasons behind it and take the appropriate action afterwards.

“Because we see no reason why this should be happening. These are international companies so they shouldn’t be committing such mistakes,” he added.

Another company, Blue Star Exploration Ghana Limited, also wrongfully lodged $13,537.50 into the GRA’s account, according to PIAC’s 2019 Semi-annual report. The money has since been reversed into the  PHF, according to GRA.

In the 2018 Annual Report of PIAC, Springfield E&P Limited, was also cited to have wrongfully paid $34,993.22 into the GRA account instead of the PHF. The money was subsequently reversed into the PHF.

Several other wrongful lodgments involving the GRA account were made in 2017, according to PIAC.

A Surface Rental of $30,884.25 payable by Springfield, Corporate Income Tax of $761,229 by Petro SA Ghana Limited, and an additional assessment tax audit amount of $12, 726, 739. 73 payable by Anadarko were all wrongfully paid into the GRA account, according to PIAC’s 2017 Annual Report.

By Marlvin-James Dadzie