After 10 Years of Oil Production in Ghana E-Levy not panacea for Development – Activist

Executive Director for the Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Management (CNREM), Solomon Kwawukume, has said that after a decade of oil production in the country, Ghana has been shortchanged over $5 Billion in revenue, equaling about five years of E-Levy revenue expected to be generated for the development of the country.

He said Ghana would not have been in the current financial crises if all royalties due her were fully earned under the bad Ghana Hybrid System.

Mr. Kwawukume while addressing the media in Accra on Thursday, May 4, 2022, asserted that, after 10 years of production, Ghana is yet to earn the first US$5 Billion as Ghanaians were made to believe. He said the country earned US$4.735 Billion from the three main sources of the Government Take, Royalties, Carried and Participation Interest and Corporate Taxes which only represents 20.31% of total production revenue of over US$23.30 Billion generated from 304,472,403 barrels of oil from the fields as at December 2020. He insisted that Ghana was expected to earn a cumulative total revenue of US$9.83 Billion from the US$23.30 Billion from the contractor parties.

The Former Senior Research Officer (OIL & GAS) of Ghana Institute of Governance and Security (GIGS), explained that after 10 years of production, the contractor Parties realized US$ 19,335,439,203 from the sale of 250,325,417 Barrels at an average Price of over US$75 per barrel but ended up paying only US$766,478,908 per the analyses of quarterly Petroleum Receipts and Distribution Reports of the Ministry of Finance.

“The Contractor Parties have collectively evaded in total US$1,833,474,813 Income Tax payment and short payment of US$ 49,198.083 in Royalties as at December 2020 totaling US$ 1,882,672,896 lost to Ghana. This is more than two years E-Levy revenue the government wants to generate for development,” he lamented.

Mr. Solomon Kwawukume also revealed that Ghanaians earn less than 21% of the total production revenue with a lame excuse that Ghana does not have the capital and technology. He further stated that some Sub-Saharan African countries producing under the PSA Fiscal Regime earn between 44% to 85% of total production revenue.

He also alleged that Regulatory Bodies and Powers-that-be in Charge of Upstream Oil Industry in the country are covering up the dubious deals and theft of the Contractor Parties (foreign oil Contractors) despite his organization haven duly brought the underhand dealings to their notice.

He said it has become very clear that contractor parties and their partners are scheming to deny Ghanaians their fair share of revenue generated from their sovereign natural resources leading to them paying E-levy from their pockets for development.

Source: Derick Botsyoe || GhanaNews.TV