Friends of the Nation in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH organized a two-day National Stakeholders’ Forum on Petroleum Revenue Management in Ghana under the theme “Two years into Petroleum Revenue Management: Achievements, Challenges and Lessons Learnt”. The forum which took place from September 11 to 12, 2013 in Takoradi in the Western Region brought together over 100 people from Government, Civil Society and Private sector. Participants included Members of Parliament, Representatives of the Ministries of Finance and Energy & Petroleum, Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Civil Society and Community-Based Organisations, Traditional Authorities, Development Partners and the Media. The two-day event provided a platform for participants to reflect and proffer key recommendations on the issues of petroleum revenue management, two years into its operationalization. The forum comprised of plenary presentations, open discussions and group work. Some of the presentations were:

  • Western Region in the Perspectives of the Changing Economy
  • Ghana’s Petroleum Revenue Management Framework
  • GHEITI 2010-2011 report
  • PIAC reports and matters arising

The output of the Forum was issuance of a Communiqué which contained key recommendations as:

1. Government reconsiders its decision on the Constitutional Review Commission recommendations relative to the development of a long term plan and to expeditiously take steps to develop a long-term development framework in line with the provisions of Act 815 to guide the productive and efficient utilization of petroleum revenues;
2. Government initiates action to amend portions of the Act such as Sections 21 to establish a time frame for the preparation of a National Development framework and the elimination of the phrase but not limited to in subsection 3 which opens up possible areas to infinitum and set aside statutory funds to mitigate the impact of the oil & gas on fishing and coastal livelihoods;
3. Minister of Finance expedites the development of regulations to supplement and strengthen the PRMA and to ensure the discretionary powers assigned the Minister are checked;
4. Government provides the necessary resources for PIAC and all institutions with responsibilities under Act 815 and ensures that it has the required capacity to carry out their responsibilities effectively;
5. Parliament should strengthen its oversight role on revenue management especially discussing PIAC reports, Auditor Generals’ report and other relevant institutional reports;
6. Government as part of petroleum revenue allocations considers priority projects for the Western Region and especially communities within the six coastal districts since the impact of oil & gas operations are prominent in these areas;
7. Government provides enough resources for the development of the fisheries sector through capacity support for diversified livelihoods, subsidy on fishing input, establishment of marine protected areas, resourcing of Fisheries Commission to function efficiently;
8. Projects funded from loans collateralized against future oil and gas revenues must be guided by transparent procurement processes and strict time lines set for the completion of those projects;
9. There must be value for money audits on all projects funded with oil and non-oil revenues as pre-condition for the release of funds.

The full communiqué can be found [private role=”subscriber”]
here (pdf).[/private]
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