PIAC Report Pins GNPC AstroTurf Construction At ₵8M “Far From Napo’s Figures”
The 2021 annual report of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee submitted to the Parliament of Ghana has pegged the total cost of 30 AstroTurf constructed in seven regions by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) at GHC8,188,000.35.
The construction by the GNPC was part of its Foundation Projects in 2021.
The thirty AstroTurf were constructed in seven regions including the Ashanti region, the Western region, the Greater Accra region, the Central Region, Eastern Region and the Northern region.
The cost of the AstroTurf ranges from GHC49,860.60 and GHC319,813.00.
Twenty-two of them were constructed at the cost of GHC319,813.00 each.
Discrepancy In Cost
Reacting to the report, Member of Parliament for the North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa indicated that there are discrepancies in the figures from the PIAC and the Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh.
The MP recalled that on July 5, 2022, in Parliament, the sector Minister pegged the cost of the most of the astroturfs at GHC1.5 million cedis each.
“The Minister told Parliament most of the Astro Turfs cost GHS1,599,065.00 each. To illustrate further with a few examples: according to the Minister’s parliamentary response, the Adenta, Karaga, Yendi, Mankessim, Adiembra, Akyemansa, Kumasi, Beposo and Bantama Astro Turfs cost GHS1,599,065.00 each which is absolutely in sharp contrast from PIAC’s report indicating that those same projects cost just GHS319,813.00 each.
“Let’s consider another example, whereas PIAC’s report to Parliament states that the Tarkwa Astro Turf cost GHS49,860.60; the Minister claimed in his July 5, 2022 answer to my parliamentary question that the Tarkwa Astro Turf cost an impressive GHS997,212.00.
“When put in full context, the Minister’s total cost for the listed Astro Turfs amounts to GHS40,779,395.79 instead of the PIAC total figure of GHS8,188,000.35. That is a massive variance of GHS32,591,395.44. What exactly accounts for this yawning disparity in the utilization of Ghana’s precious oil funds?”, he posted on Facebook.
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
