The Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) and the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) have strongly condemned what they describe as the unlawful diversion of funds from the LPG Fund to the Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company (GCMC), led by Abdul-Rahman Mankir.

According to sources within the energy sector, more than US$7 million has allegedly been transferred from the fund to GCMC on the orders of the Energy and Green Transitions Minister, John Abduali Jinapor, a move the two industry bodies say constitutes a serious breach of statutory mandate and a dangerous setback to Ghana’s energy policy framework.

In a joint statement dated Wednesday, 18 February 2026 and signed by Dr Riverson Oppong, Chief Executive Officer and Industry Coordinator of COMAC, and Dr Patrick Ofori, Chief Executive Officer of CBOD, the groups described the alleged transfer as “a flagrant breach of statutory mandate, a dangerous sabotage of national energy policy, and an unacceptable betrayal of public trust”.

The LPG Fund was established under Legislative Instruments LI 2262 (as amended) and LI 2481, and implemented by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) on 1 April 2024.

Under the framework, the fund has three clearly defined and legally binding objectives: a US$44 per metric tonne Bottling Plant Margin to finance the construction and operation of LPG bottling plants nationwide; and a US$36 per metric tonne Cylinder Investment Margin to support the rollout of the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) to ensure safe and efficient LPG distribution.
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COMAC and CBOD insisted that these objectives are “non-negotiable” and that the fund was never intended to serve as discretionary capital for unrelated allocations.

“Redirecting it to GCMC is not administrative flexibility; it is a statutory violation that demolishes the foundation of Ghana’s LPG safety and infrastructure framework,” the statement said.

The two bodies argued that diverting funds away from bottling plant development, CRM implementation and the withdrawal of unsafe cylinders undermines efforts to improve LPG accessibility and safety nationwide.

They warned that the alleged misallocation could have far-reaching consequences beyond the energy industry, including the destruction of private investment, job losses across the downstream petroleum value chain, increased consumer costs, and reduced investor confidence.

“Every diverted cedi erodes competitiveness, freezes critical investment, and transfers wealth from productive enterprise to governmental discretion,” the statement added.

COMAC and CBOD have therefore issued a series of demands, including the immediate cessation of all disbursements from the LPG Fund to GCMC, the reversal of any allocations already made, and the restoration of the funds to their lawful purposes.

They also called on the government to publicly reaffirm the statutory mandate of the LPG Fund and to introduce quarterly public reporting on its utilisation, backed by independent audit verification.

“These are not industry requests. These are legal and moral imperatives,” the statement stressed.

The chambers further signalled their readiness to pursue policy, legal and public avenues to defend what they describe as the rightful utilisation of the fund.

“We will not permit this fund to become a discretionary slush account. We will not remain passive while statutory protections are shredded,” they stated, adding that full accountability, decisive leadership and restoration of the fund’s integrity were non-negotiable.

Government authorities have yet to publicly respond to the allegations.

Writer’s Name: Andre Mustapha Nii Okai Inusah
Popularly Known As: Attractive Mustapha
Email: attractivemustapha@gmail.com
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