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As the alarm bells toll to herald the impending collapse of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in 2026, it has come to light that the wasteful expenditures that have bankrupted the Corporation include the splurge of almost Ghc4million on renovation works on an office complex for the Eastern regional House chiefs.
The revelation that the GNPC, led by yet another relative of President Akufo-Addo, O.A Danquah, blew that hefty amount of taxpayer money to decorate the offices of chiefs from the President’s region is contained in a memo from the GNPC’s archives.
Dated 3rd July, 2023, the memo was fired to the Deputy Chief Executive for Finance and Administration by the Chief Executive Officer, O.A Danquah. It read; “Three million, nine hundred and forty thousand, three hundred and thirty-six Ghana cedis, twenty-nine pesewas (3,940,336.29) to support the renovation and refurbishment of the office complex and conference hall for Eastern regional house of chiefs.”
The memo went on to say that the payment was to be subjected to a site visit and bill of quantities from a team that the Corporation was sending to the site.
This revelation that GNPC splurged almost Ghc4million to renovate and refurbish an office complex for the nestling pleasure of chiefs from the President’s region, is coming in the wake of warning that the GNPC as it stands now is on the cusp of bankruptcy.
The revelation was made by the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) a body set up to monitor and evaluate compliance with the Petroleum Management Act, which expressed fear in its latest report that the GNPC is likely to collapse in 2026.
The report which is titled, “The Role of GNPC in the upstream petroleum industry: challenges and Prospects,’ lamented that GNPC’s wasteful expenditures on things that have nothing to do with its core mandate has led an imbalance in its books.
As a result of these stray, reckless spendings, the Corporation, as at 2022, was owed a whopping US$1.14 billion. This bad debt which the government is not likely to pay has thrown the Corporation’s finances out of gear and undermining its ability to fulfil its core mandate, which is “to lead the sustainable exploration, development, production and disposal of the petroleum resources of Ghana, by leveraging the right mix of domestic and foreign investments in partnership with the people of Ghana.”
Meanwhile, as PIAC points out, GNPC risks collapse after 2026 because the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, provided for the National Oil Company (GNPC) to be funded for 15 years at the inception of the Act and that that 15-year time period fulfils in 2026.
“The PRMA mentions that the NOC is to be funded for 15 years following the start of commercial production of crude oil, following which it will no longer be supported with funds from the PHF. This means that after 2026, GNPC will no longer receive funding from the PHF. Given the challenges that confront the Corporation, it may not be able to survive without government support if the enactment is implemented”, PIAC said in the report.