Gold-For-Oil Policy Does Not Need Parliamentary Approval – Egyapa Mercer

Deputy Energy Minister has disclosed that the government’s Gold-For-Oil policy does not need to be submitted to parliament for approval.

According to Andrew Egyapa Mercer, the programme was instituted within the mandate of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and did not fall within the purview of parliament.

“On even the import side, BOST, before the commencement of this programme [Gold-For-Oil], if you like, imports petroleum products as part of their operations, do they take it to parliament for approval?

“So if the Bank of Ghana is buying gold in-country as part of its mandate and externalising it to as it were either swap for commodity on behalf of Ghanaian importer and or monetise to pay on behalf of a Ghanaian importer which then the Ghanaian importer pays in cedis in Ghana, how does that require parliamentary approval?”

There have been calls from the minority side of parliament to bring the policy to the house for perusal.

However, according to Mr Mercer, these calls are merely to truncate the success of the programme, which as of Monday, January 13, had delivered 41,000 metric tons of oil from the United Arab Emirates to the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST).

He further stated, “But I know why, especially people in the NDC led by former President Mahama, will call for parliament because you know the dynamics there. To the point that the parliament of Ghana passed a law, the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act, which then empowered the government through a requisite agency to set up a company for the purposes of monetising our royalty.

“It’s all in the law. But when the government sought to implement the law that had been passed by parliament by way of the Agyapa transaction, you saw what happened,” he said on Joy News.