How must our oil revenue be utilised? (II)

Yesterday we added our voice to those already been made by Ghanaians on how the oil revenue must be utilised. We specifically supported the call made by Mr. Jacob Hobenu, a Financial Analyst, that a special oil account must be set up by the government, where all revenue accruing from the oil extraction must be paid into, to tackle infrastructural development.

We concluded by advising our politicians to listen to Hobenu's advice, and not to use the oil revenue on items they consider as a priority, but which would not benefit the entire country in the long run.

In making this conclusion remark in our yesterday's edition, we have two major policy statements in mind. First, the campaign promise made by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate for the 2008 elections, Nana Akuffo-Addo, that he would make education from Primary to Secondary level absolutely free. His main challenger, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, who is now the President of the Republic, also promised Ghanaians that his government would implement a one-time premium payment for all National Health Insurance subscribers.

To date, neither Nana Addo nor President Mills has come out to tell Ghanaians how they are going to finance this policy.

The assumption has always been that the two were targeting the expected oil revenue to implement these policies.

The Chronicle is therefore not surprised that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, headed by Professor Atta Mills, has pledged to start the implementation of the one-time NHIS premium in October next year, by which time the oil revenue would probably started trickling in.

Mr. Hobenu had warned, during the interview he had with TV3's 'Time with David' programme, that the oil revenue must not be used to provide social services, instead, it must be used to construct roads and bridges, which could be tolled to recoup the investment.

The Chronicle can however read from the signs on the wall that this advice would never be taken by the government, because it is bent on using the oil revenue to fulfill its electoral promises.

Implementing a one-time premium payment, and making education free from primary to secondary school level, as promised by Nana Addo, are all good, but would it be enough to show after we have finished extracting the oil, that these are the benefits we got from it?

We, at The Chronicle, are aware of the NDC ideological stance (Social Democrats), but using oil revenue to implement a policy that cannot be felt in real terms, must not be encouraged, though we concede that the government has not come out to state categorically that the oil revenue would be used to implement the policy. Nkrumah might have spent a fortune in constructing the Accra-Tema motorway, but today we are all reaping from the windfall, as the revenue accrued so far, far exceeds the money that was used in constructing it.

This is the kind of policy we expect the government to implement with the oil revenue.

The regular taxes we collect must be used to tackle some of the social projects, and free the oil revenue to pursue infrastructural projects. Already, Accra alone needs not less than 20 flyovers to ease traffic congestion in the capital city.

There are several roads across the length and breadth of this country that need rehabilitation. This is what we must focus on with the oil revenue. We shall surely return to this topic.