Minority Members of Parliament have accused president Kufuor of peddling untruths about oil exploration in the country.

They said it was unfortunate that the president was twisting historical facts by suggesting oil exploration started during the Busia regime.

According to one of the MPs, Dr. Kwame Ampofo, oil exploration predated the Busia regime 73 years.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra, he said it was false for president Kufuor to say that the previous government squandered money under the guise of prospecting for oil.

Dr. Ampofo also accused the president of failing to acknowledge the contributions of the PNDC/NDC in discovering Ghana’s oil.

He said the efforts to discover oil in the country was given impetus by the jailed GNPC boss, Tsatsu Tsikata.

But the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr. Stephen Asamoah Boateng disagreed with him.

He said although oil exploration started in 1893 in the Nzema area, it was on a relatively small scale done by individuals.

According to him, real concerted efforts on the part of a government to prospect for oil started under Busia.

He said the GNPC under the NDC misapplied resources instead of channeling them into the core business of discovering oil.

Mr. Asamoah Boateng stressed that it was under president Kufuor that significant strides were taken towards tapping the country’s oil resources.

That, according to him, yielded results and led the oil that was discovered in commercial quantities.


Story by Malik Abass Daabu