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The minority has criticized the government for causing difficulties in the energy sector, blaming it for introducing subsidies that have accumulated huge debts.
Cbadiel Ato Forson, minority spokeswoman in charge of finance, said the so-called state of emergency in the energy sector announced by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on Monday was self inflicted.
In presenting the mid-year budget review, the Minister of Finance told Parliament that the heart of the energy sector's challenges was the "Nasty contracts of purchase or payment signed by the NDC, forcing us to pay for a capacity we do not need."
Photo: Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta
But Ato Forson, himself a former deputy finance minister, disagrees.
According to him, it was not enough for the Minister to make a general statement on the purchase contracts without specifying which ones accumulated debts.
"The minister should have given us a breakdown. In fact, a disaggregated version of what he's talking about, "he said. PM Express, a news program on MultiTV.
"Do you know why there is an emergency phase? The government recently introduced a subsidy in the sector. This grant has incurred a lot of debt. The same government that introduced a grant has not been able to generate revenue to pay for this grant. This accumulates. It is accumulating to the point that today, every megawatt you consume is subsidized by the Government of Ghana, "said minority spokesman in defense of the former administration. of the NDC.
According to the government, this year alone, it will pay a billion dollars to subsidize the energy sector, just to keep the light. Half of this will be for power that is not used but contracted.
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According to the government, the John Mahama government's petroleum energy agreements far exceeded the recommended reserve margin of 20 percent.
The Akufo-Addo government has stated that the 30 inherited power purchase agreements would have provided Ghana with a capacity of 10,000 MW over the next 13 years, against a request from peak of 2,400 MW in 2017.
But to defend the John Mahama government as deputy finance minister, Ato Forson said that if the NPP government subsidizes electricity, the inevitable debts would accumulate.
"It's self-inflicted," said the minority spokesman.
Godfred Bokpin, a professor of economics and also a television presenter, described energy sector debts as the "biggest black hole in the Ghanaian economy".
"I remember the former president [John Mahama] telling us that Ghana was now in a position to export electricity to neighboring countries because our installed capacity had increased. I wonder if [any company] would bring in equipment in this country that would be taken into account in our installed capacity and would say [to Ghana government] do not pay anything before you start using it, "he said.
He urged the minority to admit that the former administration of the NDC had signed some contracts that had contributed to the challenges of the energy sector.
Watch the full discussion on PM Express in the video link below.
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