Accra, Sept 28, GNA – Mr John Kumah, the Deputy Minister of Finance, has urged the newly inaugurated board members of Public Interest and Accountability Committee to execute their mandate to ensure that citizens benefit from the exploitation of the petroleum resources.
Mr Kumah said “your appointment is a call to public service and I am confident that you will justify the trust that your nominating institutions, the government and people of Ghana have reposed in your diverse expertise and capacity”.
The Deputy Minister of Finance said this on Tuesday at the Inauguration of five new members of of the 13-member PIAC board in Accra.
He said the Committee had applied hard work and determination to the execution of its mandate since its establishment, stressing that its work had impacted positively on the management and use of petroleum revenues in the country.
“Government’s recognition of this is demonstrated not only in ensuring stable financial support to its programmes and providing office accommodation for the Secretariat but even to the extent that the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was present himself to launch PIAC’s 10th anniversary celebration on March 25, 2021 in Accra”, he said.
Mr Kumah said President Akufo-Addo had reiterated that government would continue to support PIAC in its work and stressed that the Ministry’s doors remained open to PIAC for engagement and collaboration while respecting PIAC’s independence as enshrined in the Act.
The PIAC was established by Section 51 of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815) as amended and inaugurated on September 15, 2011 with the mandate of ensuring transparency and accountability in the management and use of petroleum revenues in Ghana.
Professor Kwame Adom- Frimpong, the Chairperson of PIAC Board, thanked President Akufo-Addo for the confidence reposed in them and pledged to work according to the mandates of the Act.
The rest of the members are Mr Nasir Alfa Mohammed, Ghana Bar Association; M. Bashiru Abdul-Razak, Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative; Mrs Clara Beeri Kasser-Tee, Independent Policy Research Think Tanks and Odeefuo Amoakwa Buadu VIII, National House of Chiefs.
The Deputy Minister, who also inaugurated the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) Board, said the Authority played an essential and pivotal role in Ghana’s Public Financial Management (PFM) regime.
He stated that Authority’s establishment stemmed from the successful outcome of Ghana’s PFM reforms strategy which culminated in the promulgation of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) and its subsequent amendment in 2016 through the Public Procurement (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 914).
The Act, he said, included making proposals for the formulation of policies on procurement and ensure policy implementation and human resource development for public procurement.
Mr Kumah urged the Board members to work assiduously to improve the image of the procurement profession in the country and also achieve the mandates of the Authority.
He said the PPA was expected to harmonise the processes of public procurement in the public service to secure a judicious, economic and efficient use of state resources in public procurement.
It is also to ensure that public procurement is carried out in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory, environmentally and socially sustainable manner.
Prof Christopher Ameyaw- Akumfi, the Chairperson of the Board, assured government that the board would work with the law to prevent shortcuts of procurement and assist to ensure that the country’s purse was protected.
The other members are Mr Frank Mante, Ms Diana Asonaba Dapaah, Mr Hayford Amoh, Mad Ernestina Swatson Eshun, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, Mr Samuel Nee Baidoo, Mr Isaac Kofi Amoah and Madam Patricia Safo.
GNA