Government has announced that it will from 2016 stop spreading oil revenues thinly.<\/p>\n
This decision, according to the government is borne out of the \u201ccomplain that the development impact of allocations of the Annual Budget Funding Amount \u2026have been spread too thin in the past budgets by civil society organizations and other identifiable groups.\u201d<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”p6dnMej1sGUOkhrObRZNCIPuyRmDPm2c”]Speaking at the African Oil Governance summit in Accra, the Petroleum and Natural Resource Minister, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah disclosed that \u201cthe 2016 budget allocated over 70 percent of the Annual Budget Funding amount to two critical sectors, agriculture and infrastructure development.”<\/p>\n
It will be recalled that the Public Interest and Accountability Committee PIAC, the African Center For Energy Policy ACEP, the Integrated Social Development Center ISODEC and other civil society organizations in various reports and platforms have bemoaned how government have been spreading the oil revenues too thinly across many projects.<\/p>\n
The Petroleum Minister, who is also the incumbent and parliamentary candidate elect for the Ellembelle constituency in the Western Region lauded the meaningful contributions and advice civil society organizations and other identifiable groups have contributed towards the effective governance of the country\u2019s natural resources, particularly the petroleum sector.<\/p>\n
He however admitted that \u201cin some cases the enabling space for citizens participation, commendably have been pioneered by civil society groups and citizens at large, admittedly not without contestations but disagreeing to arrive at a consensus. Certainly we could not have come this far, in our efforts to build the appropriate institutions from the sector without the support of civil society.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Armah assured civil society and other identifiable groups of government\u2019s commitment at ensuring and operating an open door policy to provide understanding and cooperation for effective governance and utilization of the nation\u2019s resources.<\/p>\n
Despite this commitment, what is unclear yet is whether this government\u2019s decision will mean that only few agricultural and infrastructural projects will be selected to benefit from allocations from the ABFA or many projects under the two sectors will be selected. Civil society organizations despite this milestone may continue to push further.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Government has announced that it will from 2016 stop spreading oil revenues thinly. This decision, according to the government is borne out of the \u201ccomplain that the development impact of allocations of the Annual Budget Funding Amount \u2026have been spread too thin in the past budgets by civil society organizations and other identifiable groups.\u201d [contextly_sidebar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":165110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[22,4],"yoast_head":"\n