The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has been excluded from key consultations on proposed amendments to the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), raising concerns about transparency in Ghana’s oil revenue management as the government prepares for the 2026 budget.
The Ministry of Finance convened a meeting in early November to discuss the proposed amendments to PRMA 2011 (Act 815), but reportedly left PIAC off the invitation list despite the committee being established by the same law. Other civil society organisations working on extractives governance were invited to participate.
A November 2 letter signed by Legal Director of the Ministry of Finance, Amerley Nuno Amarteifio, invited stakeholders to nominate members for the discussion. The letter, titled Invitation to Meeting on Proposed Amendments to the Petroleum Revenue Management Act 2011 (Act 815), directed invitees to nominate one member each to participate.
Sources familiar with the development revealed that PIAC learned about the meeting independently and had to request permission to send a representative after initially being told the matter under discussion did not concern them.
This marks the second time in 2025 that the ministry has sidelined PIAC in discussions surrounding reforms to the petroleum revenue law. Parliament passed the Petroleum Revenue Management (Amendment) Act 2025 (Act 1138) in March, which effectively removed the provision that guaranteed PIAC a dedicated portion of petroleum revenues to finance its operations.
The amendment replaced Section 21 of the principal Act, which previously required that not less than 70% of the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA), the share of oil revenue allocated to the national budget, be used for public investment, while PIAC’s budget was treated as a direct charge on the fund. This arrangement gave the committee financial independence and protected it from arbitrary cuts.
Under the revised framework, the ABFA has been fully integrated into the national budget and made subject to general fiscal procedures. Allocations are now guided by a Medium Term Expenditure Framework and a long term development plan, with spending prioritised for economic development, regional equity and infrastructure.
The amendment further allows up to 5% of the ABFA earmarked for infrastructure to be channelled to the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF). Section 57(3) of the principal Act, which offered an extra layer of protection for PIAC’s funding, was also repealed.
Interim Chair of PIAC, Richard Kojo Ellimah, described the government’s move as very unfortunate, noting that it undermines the spirit of transparency the PRMA was designed to uphold.
“Let me put it on record that this was a very unfortunate move,” Ellimah stated. “PIAC has since its establishment worked on all aspects of petroleum revenue management, including oversight of the Ghana Heritage Fund (GHF) and Ghana Stabilisation Fund (GSF). In our annual and semi annual reports, we provide detailed updates on these funds.”
He added that if government intends to amend provisions affecting these two critical funds, he cannot understand why it would not occur to anyone to invite PIAC to the table. “We are a key stakeholder in the country’s petroleum revenue management architecture. You cannot touch any of these funds without recourse to PIAC.”
Ellimah, who represents civil society organisations and community based organisations on the committee, said the decision to exclude PIAC appears to be part of a worrying pattern.
“PIAC has in the past submitted proposals for a comprehensive amendment of the PRMA. In fact, we engaged the former Minister for Finance about three years ago and were assured that PIAC would be invited to participate when the law was due for review,” he explained.
However, when the new government took office, another amendment was made in April without PIAC’s input. “We were taken completely by surprise when we learned that changes had been made and that PIAC had been removed from the ABFA allocation,” Ellimah said.
“This is not an isolated incident. Now, as the minister prepares to present the 2026 Budget, another PRMA amendment is being drafted and once again, PIAC has been left out. It’s becoming a trend and a very worrying one.”
Ellimah expressed deep concern about the future of PIAC’s oversight role as a key stakeholder in the management of Ghana’s petroleum revenues if the pattern continues.
The exclusion comes as PIAC struggles with severe budget constraints following the March amendment. The committee’s 2025 budget was slashed to GH¢4.6 million, representing only 21.43% of its annual budget requirements and 41.07% of funds approved in 2024.
Vice Chair of PIAC, Odeefuo Amoakwa Buadu VIII, revealed in October that the significant budget cut has severely limited PIAC’s ability to effectively fulfil its statutory mandate. The committee has conducted only one regional engagement and two project inspections in the first seven months of 2025, far short of its target of 64 annual inspections.
PIAC has suspended numerous planned public outreach activities, including media engagements on its 2024 annual report, which forms part of its legal mandate. The reduction in oversight capacity arrives precisely when monitoring petroleum expenditure becomes more critical given the government’s concentration of ABFA funds on infrastructure under the Big Push agenda.
The 2025 PRMA amendment mandates that 100% of ABFA be channelled exclusively toward infrastructure investment, marking a decisive break from previous allocations that spread petroleum revenues across multiple sectors. The changes tie petroleum spending directly to President John Dramani Mahama’s $10 billion Big Push infrastructure agenda.
Under the revised framework, ABFA funds that previously supported recurring expenditures like the Free Senior High School programme are now restricted to infrastructure. The Free SHS initiative, which historically received approximately 55% of its funding from ABFA, has been transitioned to Ghana Education Trust Fund financing.
Civil society organisations have raised concerns about transparency under the new arrangement. Unlike previous budgets that detailed specific ABFA allocations, the 2025 budget statement and mid year review listed projects without indicating costs, making it difficult for citizens to track whether petroleum revenues are being used efficiently.
Established in September 2011 through the original PRMA (Act 815), PIAC emerged as part of comprehensive efforts to ensure transparency and accountability in managing Ghana’s oil wealth. The committee’s three fold mandate encompasses monitoring government compliance with petroleum revenue laws, providing public platforms for citizen engagement, and delivering independent assessments to Parliament and the Executive.
The oversight body has published 27 statutory reports since its inception, including 13 annual and 14 semi annual assessments that have become authoritative sources for petroleum revenue analysis. PIAC operates through representatives from 13 member institutions across Ghanaian society.
Ghana earned $370.3 million in petroleum revenue during the first half of 2025, according to PIAC’s latest semi annual report. This represented a 56% decline from $840.77 million recorded in the same period of 2024, attributed to lower crude oil production and declining global oil prices.
The committee has warned that Ghana has failed to attract new investment in its upstream petroleum sector, with no new petroleum agreements signed since 2018. This development threatens long term output and government revenue as production has declined for five consecutive years.
Efforts to obtain the Ministry of Finance’s response to PIAC’s claims were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
