KEY POINTS
- Former MP Twum Barimah says Ghana has produced gas since 2011 with no dedicated legal framework.
- Overlapping mandates between GNPC and Ghana Gas are creating institutional tensions and policy uncertainty.
- A National Gas Act would define mandates, attract investment and ensure accountability in the sector.
Ghana has been producing natural gas since 2011. It still has no law specifically dedicated to governing the sector. A former lawmaker says that gap is now too costly to ignore.
Paul Apreku Twum Barimah, former Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, called Tuesday for the urgent passage of a National Gas Act, describing the current regulatory vacuum as a source of avoidable institutional confusion that is holding back one of the country’s most strategic sectors.
At the center of the problem, Twum Barimah said, is a fundamental disagreement between two of Ghana’s most important energy institutions. The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation interprets its mandate broadly, assuming oversight of the upstream petroleum sector and treating the Ghana National Gas Company as a subsidiary under its supervision. Ghana Gas sees itself differently, as an independent institution with a distinct mandate over the processing and management of the country’s gas resources.
Neither reading is clearly wrong because there is no law that says which one is right.
The cost of governing without a framework
“The lack of a clear legal framework for the gas industry is creating avoidable regulatory mishaps,” Twum Barimah said in a statement on May 20. He argued that Ghana’s expanding gas sector cannot continue operating without a clearly defined governance structure.
Successive governments, he noted, have failed to close this legislative gap despite years of growing gas production and increasing reliance on natural gas for power generation and industrial development. The result is overlapping responsibilities, institutional tension and policy uncertainty in a sector the country increasingly depends on.
What a National Gas Act would do
Twum Barimah called specifically for a National Gas Bill to be drafted and submitted to Parliament before receiving presidential assent. Legislation of this kind, he argued, would clearly define the mandates, responsibilities and limitations of all institutions operating in the gas industry.
Beyond resolving internal disputes, a proper legal framework would also improve institutional coordination, create conditions more attractive to private and foreign investors and ensure greater accountability in how Ghana manages its natural gas resources.
With gas playing a growing role in powering Ghana’s grid and supporting industrial activity, Twum Barimah said the country can no longer afford to leave the sector’s governance to institutional interpretation rather than law.
