A former Finance Minister, Dr. Anthony Akoto-Osei wants President John Mahama to sack the entire management and board of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) over the decision to contract a $700 million loan.<\/p>\n
According to him, the conduct of the board and management of GNPC is in bad taste and taints the image of government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I were the President, I will sack the board and the management because it is an embarrassment to the government,\u201d he fumed.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”wyLcS9TChE5Em5evTkHxpRNUw3FEQRMo”]The Corporation is securing a $700 million loan to fund its activities without parliamentary approval; a procedure the Minority in Parliament insists is illegal.<\/p>\n
But the GNPC maintains it did not err in any way<\/strong><\/span><\/a> because the GNPC Act allows it to secure loans without Parliamentary approval.<\/p>\n Speaking in an interview with Citi News<\/strong> however, the member of Parliament\u2019s finance committee said the GNPC\u2019s defense is unjustified.<\/p>\n He asked: \u201cIf it is a legitimate thing, why are they afraid to bring it to Parliament? It\u2019s like government is trying to hide something.\u201d<\/p>\n According to him, the President has sworn to protect and defend the nation\u2019s constitution therefore, if \u201cyour agents are violating the constitution and if you endorse it, you ware violating the very same constitution you swore to defend. You can\u2019t allow impunity to prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Akoto Osei observed that the GNPC is \u201cacting like it is a private corporation with private funds. The funds are public funds! In any case, GNPC is a trustee of our assets. What does it have to hide when the law says your activities must be approved by Parliament?\u201d<\/p>\n He insisted that GNPC has breached the constitution and advised them to admit they have made a mistake and \u201cthey should back off before they run into trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think they are wrong, In Ghana, we go by rules and we should not allow any institution to violate the constitution which is the supreme law in Ghana,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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