IMANI Africa Vice President Bright Simons has raised concerns over the alleged high salaries paid to employees of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Ghana’s state-owned oil company, and the perception of political privilege influencing the company’s hiring and resource allocation practices.

According to Simons, the average monthly salary at GNPC stands at a striking 60,000 Ghana Cedis per employee, an amount vastly higher than the average salary in the public sector, which he noted as 2,594 Ghana Cedis per month.

Simons questioned the seeming disconnect between GNPC’s salary structure and its productivity, noting that despite these high wages, the corporation has yet to achieve a significant oil discovery in over two decades.

“GNPC doesn’t operate a single oil field,” Simons pointed out, adding that “GNPC hasn’t discovered a single barrel of oil in the last two decades.” This lack of operational achievement, coupled with its salary expenditure, has sparked public debate about the stewardship of resources within the corporation.

Addressing GNPC’s community involvement initiatives, Simons alleged that only those with political connections could gain access to the corporation’s benefits, such as scholarships, employment opportunities, or funding for community projects.

“GNPC won’t hire you, give you a scholarship, or spend a cent out of the millions of dollars it doles out in CSR on your community project…UNLESS…you have political connections,” he stated, adding that this has been the status quo for many years and is unlikely to change.

“Always been. Ever would be. And there is nothing you or any Ghanaian can do about it,” he wrote, expressing cynicism about the prospects for structural reform.