A recent inspection of oil revenue-funded projects by the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) across parts of the Eastern Region has revealed a deeply troubling reality, but with some hope.
While a few petroleum-funded projects are beginning to demonstrate the transformative potential of Ghana’s oil wealth, many others stand as expensive reminders of poor execution, inadequate supervision, and abandoned promises.
During its latest “Time with PIAC” engagement, the committee shared observations from project inspection tours in Afram Plains North and Afram Plains South, painting a picture of billions of cedis invested with outcomes ranging from remarkable success to heartbreaking failure.
The inspection found functioning boreholes serving communities, an ambitious irrigation project capable of revolutionising agriculture, but also abandoned classroom blocks rendered unusable by bats, incomplete hospitals that have consumed billions of cedis, and infrastructure projects whose intended beneficiaries remain uncertain.
PIAC believes these findings raise fundamental questions about whether Ghana is obtaining real value from petroleum revenues and whether projects financed from the country’s finite oil resources are delivering the development outcomes citizens were promised.
A School Children Cannot Use Despite Being ‘Completed’
Perhaps no project better illustrates the disconnect between expenditure and impact than a three-unit classroom block financed with petroleum revenues in a community near Donkokrom.
According to PIAC, from a distance, the structure appears complete enough to serve hundreds of pupils. But stepping inside tells an entirely different story. The classrooms have effectively been surrendered to bats.
Without ceilings, the building has become a permanent nesting place for colonies of bats whose droppings and overpowering stench have made the classrooms uninhabitable. Instead of providing a conducive learning environment, the facility has become an abandoned structure that children and teachers cannot occupy.
The tragedy extends beyond the building itself. PIAC’s inspection team also observed that the school, which serves pupils from Kindergarten to Junior High School, has only two teachers.
With such severe staffing shortages, the two educators are forced to divide all the pupils into two broad groups and teach multiple classes simultaneously.
The committee described the situation as an “eyesore,” arguing that the failure of the contractor to complete something as basic as installing ceilings has effectively rendered the entire petroleum-funded investment useless.
Boreholes Deliver Relief, But Some Have Already Broken Down
Not all the findings were disappointing. PIAC reported that several petroleum-funded boreholes visited during the inspection were functioning and providing communities with access to clean water.
Residents confirmed that the facilities have significantly improved water availability and reduced the burden of travelling long distances in search of potable water. However, the committee also encountered a few boreholes that had broken down and were no longer operational.
While these represented a minority of the facilities inspected, the breakdowns underscore the importance of maintenance planning to ensure that investments continue delivering benefits long after construction is completed.
A 900-Hectare Irrigation Project That Could Transform Agriculture
Among all the projects inspected, one stood out as a model of what petroleum revenues can achieve when investments are carefully planned and properly executed.
The Ghana Irrigation Development Authority is constructing a 900-hectare state-of-the-art irrigation facility in Afram Plains South, with completion expected before the end of the year. Once operational, the project will provide fully computerised irrigation capable of supporting year-round farming on a massive scale.
Strategically located near the Afram River and connected to the Volta River system, the project also offers transport advantages, allowing agricultural produce to be moved by boat to Akosombo Port. PIAC believes the project has enormous potential to reshape agriculture in one of Ghana’s most productive farming zones.
But committee members cautioned that irrigation alone is not enough. They argued that the government must begin planning now for how the irrigated land will be allocated and who will cultivate it.
More importantly, PIAC urged policymakers to move beyond simply increasing crop production. Instead, the committee wants Afram Plains to evolve into a fully integrated agro-industrial hub where raw agricultural products are processed into higher-value goods before reaching the market.
Rather than exporting raw maize, the area could produce flour. Soybeans could be processed into soybean oil, while sunflower cultivation could feed edible oil production, creating industries that generate employment, increase export earnings, and retain more value within the local economy.
Agenda 111 Hospitals Remain Idle Despite Billions Spent
The inspection also reignited concerns over one of Ghana’s largest public infrastructure programmes. PIAC visited an uncompleted Agenda 111 hospital, another petroleum-funded project that remains non-operational despite substantial public expenditure.
The committee noted that more than GH¢2 billion has already been invested in Agenda 111 hospitals across the country, yet many remain unfinished and unable to provide healthcare services.
For communities that continue to travel long distances for medical care, every unfinished hospital represents delayed treatment, lost opportunities and public resources tied up in idle infrastructure.
PIAC questioned the wisdom of committing enormous petroleum revenues to projects that fail to deliver services within reasonable timeframes.
The Bottomline: Documenting Ghana’s Costly Legacy of Unfinished Projects
Beyond the specific projects inspected, PIAC believes the country faces a much larger challenge. The committee says Ghana is accumulating a growing inventory of petroleum-funded projects that remain incomplete years after construction began.
Rather than allowing these investments to fade from public attention, PIAC intends to systematically document unfinished projects financed with oil revenues and estimate the total value of public funds locked up in abandoned or stalled infrastructure.
The committee argues that publishing these figures will provide citizens with a clearer understanding of how much of Ghana’s petroleum wealth has failed to translate into completed development projects.
