The Convention People¹s Party¹s shadow Minister for Energy, Kwame Jantua
says Ghana¹s main political parties, the ruling National Democratic Congress
and the opposition New Patriotic Party are only interested in running down
the Tema Oil Refinery, and selling it ³just like they have sold everything
built by the CPP government².

³Both the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party have no
interest in making sure that the Tema Oil Refinery stays, because where did
this TOR debt start from? Who was in power when the TOR debt started
accumulating? Those who came to power after, what did they say to us?² Kwame
Jantua threw these barrage of rhetoric to Emefa Apawu, host of the Big Bite
on Xfm 95.1, an Accra based radio when asked what the CPP make of the
infamous TOR debt.

Just recently, the prices of some petroleum products were reviewed upward to
raise money to retire the Tema Oil Refinery Debt and to prevent continuous
accumulation of the debts in order to alleviate its effects on the banking
system.

Last Friday, in his media interaction to mark the end of his second year in
office, President John Mills asked the opposition New Patriotic Party to
apologise to the people of Ghana for leaving the economy in what he
describes as a ³hard and parlous state².

According to the President, the outgoing NPP government in 2008 left a TOR
debt of about 1.5 billion cedis, and this has left his government with the
tasteless option of increasing petroleum prices.

The NPP has however disputed the debt figure and the two parties have since
been on a war path as to how much exactly the TOR debt is.

But the CPP¹s shadow Minister for Energy is convinced the two parties are up
in arms to rundown the state asset.

To him, both the NDC and NPP are not being truthful to Ghanaians as far as
the TOR debt is concerned and called on the two parties to open up to
Ghanaians on the exact amount of the debt and what is being done to off-set
it.

He therefore challenged the Mills-led government to be innovative in paying
the debt other than laying the blame at the door step of the opposition NPP
saying, ³governments are voted to rule on behalf of the people, and so if
there is a debt, be innovative enough to make sure that you close that
debt².

³Please, let¹s be truthful to the people of Ghana. Both the NPP and NDC have
not been truthful to us where the TOR debt is concerned, because, if they
had been truthful, we would not have this kind of debt that we have today².

Kwame Jantua says the government is wasting time debating the TOR debt when
the actual topic on the ground should be how to equip TOR to refine crude
oil from the Jubilee Oil Field. He warned that if care is not taken, the
government will sell crude from Ghana¹s oil field and buy cheap ones to be
refined by the refinery.

³Now we are producing oil, can we say that the facilities at TOR will be
able to produce fuel for Ghana today? They should rather be thinking ahead
and saying to themselves; this is the time for us to make sure how we can
expand the TOR to be able to produce our own oil, because, it could happen,

and it would happen. Story by Abena Asiedua Tenkorang/Xfm 95.1/Accra/Ghana