The government has constituted a new board to oversee the management of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), the Director-General of the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA), John Boadu, has revealed.
This move comes in a bid to address the financial troubles plaguing the TOR.
John Boadu, who was speaking on the state of TOR, acknowledged that the oil refinery has been incurring significant losses, averaging GH₵260.7 million from 2017 to 2021, according to a 2021 State Ownership Report.
To address this challenge, the government has expanded the size of TOR’s board from nine to eleven directors, Boadu disclosed. He stated that he had met with the new board members on Friday to take them through a resolution to increase the number of directors.
“I have asked them that within a week, they should let me know what their plans and programmes are, and which areas we can also help,” Boadu said.
The former New Patriotic Party (NPP) General Secretary admitted that the government’s own actions have contributed to TOR’s debt situation. He stated that political considerations have led to the government subsidizing fuel prices rather than passing on the increases to consumers.
“The government says to keep it, I am going to support you. The government never pays. So some of these accumulated debt that you see are the results of our own inaction,” Boadu said.
Dismissing speculations that TOR was up for sale, Boadu clarified that there had been previous attempts at making arrangements for the refinery that did not materialize.