Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Energy Minister John Abdulai Jinapor has raised serious concerns about the transparency of the Gold-for-Oil (G4O) programme, describing it as opaque and lacking the clarity needed for effective governance.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, February 4, he asserted that the programme, in its current form, is flawed and will be replaced with a more transparent system.
“There’s a high level of opacity, and the clarity is not there,” he emphasized.
Mr. Jinapor pointed to the Auditor General’s report, which highlighted several irregularities in the programme, as further proof of its flaws.
“The Auditor General has flagged it. So it’s not just what we are saying—it is a fact. The reality is that we are reforming all this because of the high level of opacity.
“If it were that clear, and was that transparent, and you could see everything easily, then you would not even need the reforms we are pursuing.”
The Gold-for-Oil initiative, designed to use Ghana’s gold reserves to secure petroleum products, has faced growing criticism over its lack of publicly available information regarding key transactions and the selection process for participating companies.
According to Mr. Jinapor, one of the major challenges is the difficulty in accessing details about the deals, particularly those involving offshore companies.
“We are pursuing these reforms because of the opacity and the lack of clarity,” he stated.
“It is difficult to get information, even in respect of offshore and all these companies that are dealt with. The criteria for even selecting the companies is not clear-cut. So clearly, there’s a problem—that is why we want to reform.”
When asked if the current administration would maintain the Gold-for-Oil programme in the interim, the Minister was firm in his response.
“No, we will replace it with a better programme. The current Gold-for-Oil programme we’ve inherited—we will discontinue.”
However, he acknowledged that dismantling the programme and establishing a new framework would take time, requiring parliamentary approval and legal groundwork.
“You need some time to put a workable system in place,” he explained. “If you want to set up a new system, you have to go to Parliament and have some legal battles.
“In the interim, we are trying to shift the current system and ensure that we reduce the losses and make it a bit more transparent, but ultimately, we want to replace it.”
His remarks add to the growing debate over the future of the Gold-for-Oil initiative and the need for a more accountable and efficient alternative.