Dr Manteaw calls for review of Public Financial Management Act

Dr Steve Manteaw, a co-chair of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), is calling for the review of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 Act 921, to make the finance minister more accountable to the citizenry.

He noted that the current state of the Act does not provide any sanctions against the Finance Minister, even when he breaches it, saying this “breeds impunity.”

“What I am saying is not about the current Finance Minister, but the various Finance Ministers we have had over the years. The Act, as it stands, is not biting and so unable to deter people from committing infractions repeatedly over the years,” he said.

2020 GHEITI reports
Dr. Manteaw was speaking in Sunyani last Tuesday during a stakeholders’ dissemination workshop on Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (GHEITI) 2020 reports on the mining, oil and gas sectors.

It was to create the required public awareness, generate interest and debate on the issues raised in the reports as well as pave the way for stakeholder engagements on the reports as required by Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) standards.

The programme, which brought together various stakeholder groups from various municipalities and districts in Bono, Ahafo and other regions, was jointly organised by the Ministry of Finance and GHEITI in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

Accountability
Dr. Manteaw said Ghana is doing well in terms of being transparent in its governance architecture as people are aware of most of the happenings around them but one key item missing out is accountability and hoped that the review of the Act will strengthen the process of making government more accountable to the people.

He said GHEITI is exploring other avenues to come out with the next report next year since successive governments usually fail to fund such an activity during an election year and hoped this trend would change in future.

Dr. Manteaw said Ghana needs to undertake a comprehensive cost benefit analysis of the country's extractive industry to ascertain the real impact of the sector on the citizenry and to determine the next steps in exploiting the natural resources.

“A World Bank report in the lead up to the millennium (1998, 1999, 2000) revealed that the cost of human activities in Ghana to the environment alone was between four and six percent of the country's GDP. If, as a country, our annual GDP growth rate is 4% and the cost of your growth to the environment is also 4%, it means we are at a standstill without making any progress”, he also said.

“EITI may not be the solution to all problems in the extractive sector but at least it presents opportunity for addressing several of the transparency, revenue management and utilization challenges”, he said.

For her part, the Bono Regional minister, Justina Owusu Banahene, said proceeds from the exports of minerals increased from $ 6.678b in 2019 to $6.998b in 2020 and constituted 8% of total government revenues and grants in 2020.

These revenues, she explained, have been utilized to fund vital social services, infrastructural projects and community development initiatives that have a direct impact on the lives of people.