Mr Hege Hertzberg, the Norwegian Ambassador to Ghana has called for a stable inflation regime to ensure that the citizenry benefitted from moneys that came from oil.
She said there should also be strong and competent institutions and specialized offices to audit the oil revenues, as well as a strong civil society to demand accountability from government.
Ambassador Hertzberg made these remarks at the National Stakeholders’ Forum on petroleum sector governance on the theme: “Following the oil money- impacts of oil funded projects” in Takoradi in the Western Region.
The stakeholders’ forum was organized by Friends of the Nation (FON), a non-governmental organization with focus on the environment.
The Ambassador, sharing the Norwegian experience, said “it is the laws put together to govern the sector in my country that has made us the best experience in the world.
“We have our ten commandments as a guide to the oil sector,” he said.
The Ambassador was of the view that the sector could become a blessing through proper and sustainable management, good environment, revenue management, and attract investors.
Dr. Amin Adam of the African Centre for Energy Policy expressed dissatisfaction that though oil monies were less than two percent of the budget, it is seen as the life blood of the economy.
He said Ghana badly needed a public investment management plan to promote proper spending of the revenue.
Some of the participants advocated the resourcing of the marine police, Oil and Gas College, quota of oil revenues into alternative agricultural activities and other transit investment among others.
Mr. Joseph Cudjoe, Member of Parliament for Effia Constituency, said developing other agricultural commodity board like the Ghana COCOBOD to invest in some cash crop could serve as a boost to the industry.
Source: GNA
