The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), the unique citizen-led statutory body tasked with additional public oversight over the management of Ghana’s petroleum revenues, has held its maiden engagement with the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) in Accra.
The engagement was in line with the Committee’s second mandate of providing space and platform for the public to debate on whether spending prospects and management and use of petroleum revenues conform to development priorities as provided under section 21(3) of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), 2011 (Act 815), as amended.
Over the years, PIAC has tailored its public outreach to include a broad section of the public. However, little focus has been given to marginalised groups in the discourse of petroleum revenue management. In that regard, the Committee is institutionalising an engagement with these groups, starting with the Federation.
At the event on Tuesday, 16th July 2024, the Chair of PIAC, Emerita Professor Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf said the maiden meeting with the group marked the start of an inclusivity agenda by the Committee, to ensure that the perspectives of Persons with Disabilities are considered in decision-making processes on using petroleum revenues.
She added that the event also provided the platform to update the group on the management and use of petroleum revenues for 2023 and to collaborate with them to support advocacy efforts related to petroleum revenue management in Ghana.
The President of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD), Mr Joseph Atsu Humadzi, said the voice of citizens in the management of petroleum revenues was key, to ensure that revenues are used in a manner that will benefit the future generations.
He reiterated the importance of the inclusion of the Federation in the discourse on petroleum revenue management to promote the inclusivity agenda. He expressed the readiness of the GFD to collaborate with PIAC in that regard.
At the event, a documentary on PIAC and a presentation on the 2023 PIAC Annual Report on the management and use of petroleum revenues were respectively shown and made by the PIAC Chair. There was also a session on ensuring inclusive participation, which was facilitated by the Executive Director of the GFD, Madam Rita Kusi Kyeremaa. She touched on the need for the group to have access to information from PIAC in the manner suitable for its members, and to build capacity to be able to demand for transparency and accountability in the management and use of petroleum revenues.
SOURCE: PIAC COMMUNICATIONS UNIT