Dr Akoto Osei Surprised About Payment Of TOR Debt, Thur April 7, 2011 (Daily Graphic, Political Page)

Story: Della Russel Ocloo

A former Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, says he is surprised that the government paid the final part of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) debt to the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) without the involvement of Parliament.
He said any such payment without parliamentary approval was unconstitutional and contravened the law.
“Under the Constitution, only Parliament can approve a loan of that nature, as such moneys can only be raised through the issuance of a bond which ought to be approved by Parliament,” he stated.
His comments come against the backdrop of an announcement by GCB’s Board Chairman, Mr Pryce Kojo Thompson, that the government had paid the remaining GH¢572 million owed by TOR to the bank, after an earlier partial payment of GH¢445 million in March 2010. In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Dr Osei said the absence of documentation on the transaction in the House was a clear violation of the Constitution.
He said Parliament would be compelled to call the Finance Minister to answer questions on how it contracted money for the repayment.
According to him, the right procedure ought to be followed, more so when the issue of the TOR debt would not necessarily end with its settlement.
Dr Akoto said the first time the issue of the GH¢445 million was made known, the public was made to understand that the government had taken a loan from the people.
Dr Osei also expressed concern about what he described as the unco-operative posture of the Finance Minister, who he alleged, had failed to appear before the House to answer questions on the transaction, saying, “The minister will be made to respond appropriately when the House resumes sitting in May.”
He repeated the Minority’s earlier call on the government to make public the TOR debt as of December 2010.
“We gave our information from what we knew till 2008 and we expect the government to tell the people of Ghana how much debt has been incurred in the last two years. That is a matter the people should know,” Dr Osei said.
A Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Tekper, told this reporter that officials could only comment on the matter after they had reviewed the statements made by the Minority Spokesperson.