Mr Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, Acting Auditor General
The Auditor Generals Department, in its 2017 report on public boards, has indicted management of the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC) for failing to recover GHC778, 565,761 from the government and other state owned enterprises.
The amount owed by the government, Finance Ministry, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), and Ghana Gas have been outstanding since 2015.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee sitting on Tuesday, GNPC Deputy Chief Executive, Joseph Dadzie, said that even though there are moves to recover the debts, the development has gravely affected the cash flow of the corporation.
“We have had some challenges, especially with cash flow, especially during this period where we’ve seen crude oil prices plummet; I mean it hit us very hard as far as cash flow situation is concerned. But this amount has been outstanding since 2014/2015, so I think it will be very helpful if we get assistance for the payment of this amount,” he said.
He further indicated that the entity remains at the mercy of the State, if the government decides to still delay payment.
“We don’t have a choice in the matter. We are owned by the State, so if the state refuses to pay the amount there is really nothing we can do,” Mr Dadzie responded.
The Deputy CEO noted that despite approaches by management to the Ministry of Finance and the Finance Committee of Parliament for some arrangement to be put in place to settle the outstanding amount, that move has yielded no result.
source: dailystatesman.com.gh/Business Desk
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