Failed oil and gas sector will work again under my government – Kwadwo Nsafoah Poku

An aspiring New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Kwadwo Nsafoah Poku, has said that a government under his watch as president will revitalize the current failed state of Ghana’s oil and gas sector.

Speaking in an interview with Nhyiraba Paa Kwesi Simpson, the host of Connect FM’s Omanbapa morning show as part of his tour to the Western Region, Mr. Kwadwo Nsafoah Poku indicated that after over a decade of oil discovery in Ghana, there is nothing to show for it.

“It is sad that Ghana is still borrowing after oil discovery in 2007. Look at Takoradi, the heart of Ghana’s oil, nothing is happening here, many companies that sprung up are now folding up and the reason is that the oil and Gas sector has failed us. We have oil and that should have been the end to our borrowing but look at what is happening. We are now paying GH¢37 billion every year for interest on our loans alone. All the investments people pumped into the Oil City for example has come to nothing,” he indicated.

According to him, a government under his watch will bring back hope in the oil and gas sector.

He adds that Ghana’s current borrowing spree will end if he becomes president.

“Under President Kufuor most of our debts were written off and that was the time we discovered oil. The hope was that Ghana was now going to chart a new path but our leaders went back to borrowing again. What I want to do as a president is to revitalize the oil sector because it is dead currently. We were doing 200,000 barrels a day and now we are doing 120,000. This means we are retrogressing and not making progress in the sector because we should be doing about 500,000 by now. A lot of things have gone wrong but because of my experience in oil and gas we shall fix it again,” he added

Touching on the current Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), Mr. Kwadwo Nsafoah Poku blamed government for failing to listen to expert advice.

“I think the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme is wrong. You cannot run a country in a certain way, when things were wrong and we told them to do the right thing, they did not listen. I’m a leading member of the party and not part of government but I have always proffered solutions to people in government but nobody listens. That is why I want to be president and do it myself,” he added.

He also listed a number of programmes he will execute as president including short trial in Ghana’s criminal trial and youth employment.