The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), an independent monitoring body on petroleum revenue management, has asked Ghanaians to be aware of laws regulating petroleum revenue management.
This, they said, would enable Ghanaians to track projects being constructed with petroleum revenue as well as holding government accountable to the use of the petroleum resources.
Mr Kwame Jantuah, a member of PIAC, made the call at a stakeholders’ forum in Takoradi, to sensitization Ghanaians on the management of the country’s petroleum revenue.
The event was organized by Friends of the Nation (FON), a non-governmental organization based in Takoradi, in partnership with PIAC and funded by OXFAM.
It was held on the theme: “Following the Oil Money: Informing Citizens for Better Petroleum Revenue Management”.
He said the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, Act 815 of 2011, was a viable tool Ghanaians needed to scrutinize government utilization of the petroleum revenue, and also evaluate whether it was adhering to the tenets of the law.
He, therefore, urged every Ghanaian to acquire copies of the law and study them in order to generate a vigorous debate on the use of petroleum revenue so that no individual or politician would hoodwink them.
Mr Yaw Owusu-Addo, who represented the Ghana Journalists Association on the Committee, disclosed that $US1.833 billion had been accrued to the country from the sale of petroleum resources while $US 726.7 million was spent on the annual budget between 2011 and 2013.
He advocated for long-term national development plan which would serve as a development framework for the country, saying the plan would be adopted by any political party that would ever govern the country in order to have smooth and uniform development.
Mr Owusu-Addo, also a member of PIAC, added that the development plan would target specific priority projects in the country and channel the chunk of the petroleum revenue toward their implementation.
