By Francis Tandoh
Civil society group, the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), has criticized the manner oil contracts are rushed through the country?s legislature for passing into law.
Yaw Owusu Addo, a member of the PIAC, said in an interview that passing oil contracts under certificate of urgency went contrary to good governance, transparency and accountability.
The Ghana government in 2014 signed 8 new oil contracts with a number of firms out of which two were passed under certificate of urgency.
The development raised concerns and criticisms mainly from civil society groups and policy think tanks in the West African country.
Addo expressed discontent with the manner oil deals had been negotiated and signed on behalf of the people by leaders of the country.
?I think we are not doing things right. I think maybe, we are motivated by the fact that we will then attract those people to come and drill for more oil so that we get more money.
?Yes, if that is our motivation and we actually want more money, then let?s critically ensure that the contracts we are doing are the best for this nation,? he stated.
Ghana is said to have lots of oil deposits right from Cape Three Points to Aflao, the eastern border town along the coast with the Republic of Togo.
Experts in the oil industry have also indicated that there is more onshore than offshore oil in the country.
Addo therefore questioned why those entrusted with the mandate of getting the best deal from the resource were rushing to pass oil contracts, adding: ?Ghana has lots of experts around who can be brought on board to help the country obtain good deals from the natural resource.?
The Executive Director for policy think tank, the African Center for Energy Policy, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, at a recent workshop, also expressed worry at the manner government had not been transparent regarding the signing of oil contracts.
A Ghanaian oil and gas management expert, Frank Toledzi, has estimated that the West African country could earn 40 billion US dollars more than the 20 billion US dollars projected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) from its oil fields within 20 years.
