The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) is a committee that was established by the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) Act 815 (2011) as amended, with the statutory mandate to independently monitor and evaluate the management and use of petroleum revenues.

Ghana commenced commercial oil production in 2011. In order to ensure that the nation benefits fully from the proceeds from the oil trade, the PRMA was passed by parliament to govern the entire petroleum industry.

That Act found it necessary to establish the PIAC.

PIAC, per its mandate, is expected to issue two reports in a year, a semi-annual report and an annual report, detailing how the petroleum funds have been spent in the year under review and also other matters relating to the oil trade.

In these reports, PIAC also highlights challenges in the petroleum sector and then recommends ways forward. The scope of their monitoring work cuts across the entire country because there are several oil-funded projects dotted across the country.

For instance, in the Upper Manya Krobo District, the construction of a rural market project is funded with an amount of GH¢169,516.27 from the ABFA in 2024.

Another project is the Mensah-Dawa Apimsu-Asesewa Feeder Road Project. The road project with an allocation of GH¢1,000,000.00 in 2024.

In the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region, the Kwanyako Asuogyaman CHPS Compound was funded between 2020 and 2023 with a total amount of GH¢2,617,167.67.

The Akosombo-Adumasa-Gyakiti Road was supported with GH¢2,337,410.11 from the ABFA in 2024.

In the Yendi Municipality in the Northern Region, the Gamandze-Paansiya Link Road Project was funded from 2019 to 2023 with GH¢992,851.93 from the ABFA.

These are some of the oil-funded projects across the country, a clear indication that PIAC has a monumental function to carry out, functions they have been performing since 2011, sometimes with very limited resources.

However, there is a huge challenge currently confronting PIAC, and if not addressed immediately, it can cripple their operations.

Before I delve into the issues, let me explain that PIAC was drawing its funds for its project from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA), the fund that contained a chunk of the oil proceeds but limited oil spending to four areas.

So, the PRMA mandated PIAC to draw funds from the ABFA for its operations. However, in the 2025 budget statement presented to Parliament by Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson and subsequently approved by Parliament, the PRMA was amended, moving PIAC from the ABFA.

Under the Petroleum Revenue Management (Amendment) Act, Act 1138 of 2025, PIAC has been pushed to draw allocations from a pool of funds, which is also disbursed by the Ministry of Finance. The government decided to channel the oil funds into the Big Bush project, an infrastructure project.

Here are the challenges that I observed with the new arrangement. It is a notorious fact that allocations from the Finance Ministry to government agencies, departments and ministries are fraught with delays.
So, imagine the situation where PIAC allocations from the Finance Ministry are delayed, what happens to their work?

It simply means PIAC can't undertake its scrutiny of the utilisation of the petroleum revenue in the manner that they are expected to do, whether the delays from the Finance Ministry are due to genuine reasons or not.

Let us look at this situation. Imagine you get a Finance Minister who wants to abuse the petroleum revenue, that Minister will deliberately stifle PIAC of funds, meaning they would not be able to shine light on the abuse of the oil proceeds.

If we get a Finance Minister who does not see PIAC as a necessity, therefore does not prioritise PIAC in the budget, what happens to PIAC? Certainly, they will be rendered redundant. A situation may arise where, even if the allocations go to PIAC, it may not be enough because it's not part of the priority needs of the government of the day.

Even as we speak, PIAC has not released its 2025 semi-annual report, a report that was expected to be released in July, this year, we are already in September, and the report has not been released.

Some persons, including former Chair of PIAC Dr Steve Manteaw, have indicated that whether or not the amendment of the PRMA will affect PIAC depends on PIAC itself.

A suggestion has been made that, given the unique nature of PIAC, with a little notice about delays in the allocations, they will be able to get their funds from the Finance Ministry. Because when it was even ABFA, the same Finance Minister was authorising the disbursements.

All stakeholders must be concerned about this development and ensure that PIAC gets its allocations promptly to carry out its functions. We do not want the oil to be a curse for Ghanaians.

To ensure that PIAC remains viable in the monitoring of the petroleum revenue, the previous arrangement, where PIAC was drawing funds from the ABFA, should be restored.

Even if the new arrangement remains, then the Finance Ministry must, as a matter of urgency, prioritise the disbursement to the committee.

Effective monitoring of the petroleum revenue will ensure that the nation escapes the oil curse that some other countries have experienced, where they have very little to show for in terms of development despite the availability of oil.

Again, the government must take a keen interest in ensuring that PIAC remains viable to give confidence to expat investors.

When investors realise that there are strong institutions locally to monitor the utilisation of the oil proceeds, it will boost their confidence level in Ghana's economy.

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The author of the article, Laud Nartey, is a Ghanaian journalist with a special interest in business reporting.