In what is akin to Nigeria’s resource control agitation, traditional chiefs of oil-bearing towns in Ghana’s western region last week demanded a 10 percent share of oil revenues when crude starts flowing out of their homeland, a demand that delayed a debate over a proposed oil bill.
The chiefs marched into parliament just as a committee was about to read the Petroleum Revenue and Management Bill, which will govern how revenues are managed from Ghana’s massive Jubilee oil field, due to come on line next month.
They presented a petition for 10 percent of the revenues to be paid into a development fund for the west.
”We decided to stand down the presentation in order to look at the petition of the chiefs and, if possible, incorporate it in our report,” James Avedzi, chairman of the committee reviewing the bill, told Reuters after parliament suspended the debate.
Avedzi said the committee will read its report on Thursday after carefully considering the petition from the chiefs.
The advent of oil in Ghana has been hailed as a chance for the aid-reliant country to spur economic growth, but analysts warn against excessive expectations and the risk of corruption.
Ghana expects to produce 250,000 barrels a day by 2013, which would make it sub-Saharan Africa’s sixth-largest producer of crude based on current output levels
Discussion about this post