The New Patriotic Party has accused the Mahama government of attempting to unduly burden Ghanaians “with the cost of the recent misguided acquisition of the power barges at several times what it would have cost to fuel existing power generating plants.”
According to the party, the Mahama administration “abruptly aborted the competitive tender at the GNPC for the supply of fuel for the Karpower Barge.”
“We are also informed that even though in the competitive bidding process, some other companies offered as low as $2 million for the supply of fuel, another company charging over $6 million more for the same volume of fuel ended up being rather the one awarded the contract through inexplicable sole sourcing,” the party has alleged.
“Is this what the people are now being asked to pay for?” the party asked in a statement signed by Freddy Blay, the Acting National Chairman, in reaction to the announcement of increases in the price of electricity and water Monday.
In a related development, questions have been raised internationally about Ghana’s crude oil sale of $95 million to Trafigura. Red flags are being raised over issues of corruption, with Inusah Mahama, President Mahama’s brother, and Sulley Iddrisu, a friend of the first family, said to be the key local players behind Trafigura
The Natural Resource Governance Institute has raised issues of transparency with one transaction Ghana had with Trafigura in 2013.
“The data released… cover a total of $4.3 billion in payments made by Trafigura in 2013 to the national oil companies of Colombia, Ghana, Nigeria, Norway, Peru and Trinidad—countries chosen by Trafigura because they participate in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
“The data from Ghana illustrate the value of this kind of reporting. Reports by Ghana EITI and the government’s Public Interest and Accountability Committee had already revealed that the national oil company sold a cargo of 898,338 barrels of crude on 1 November 2013 for $95 million, but the buyer was not known publicly. Today, Trafigura was revealed as the purchaser.
“This single transaction generated over 10 percent of the country’s total oil revenues that year, and therefore warrants full reporting within broader efforts to achieve revenue transparency. Disclosures like Trafigura’s can help oversight actors to understand and monitor deals entered into by the Ghanaian government that materially impact the financial wellbeing of the state. Several such deals—including a large oil-backed loan from the Chinese government and another loan under consideration with Trafigura itself—include oil sales by the national oil company as key components,” Alexandra Gillies, director of governance programs at the Natural Resource Governance Institute, noted in a report.
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