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General News of Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2019-04-16
John Jinapor, former Deputy Minister of Power
Former Vice Minister of Energy, John Jinapor, challenged the lawyer and influential family member of the president to provide evidence that the government had canceled 11 sales agreements. electricity entered into by the Mahama regime.
In a statement on Monday, he rejected Otchere-Darko's statement that the cancellation would have saved Ghana $ 7.6 billion.
Mr Jinapor said that such a comment only served to demonstrate a "complete misunderstanding of the problems" of the lawyer.
"It's important to point out that electricity purchase contracts are mostly executed by decision-makers, not by the president, as Gabby and the NPP are trying to misleadingly describe."
"The crucial question is: why did Gabby and the NPP fail to provide details on the canceled PPAs (including the date of signature, the annual capacity charges and the corresponding conditions) so that Ghanaians could make their own judgment?
According to him, "the Akufo-Addo government and the NPP have lost their concentration, hence their continued use of begging and pure political bickering."
Below the statement
PRODUCE THE DETAILS OF 11 PASSES CLAIMED BY THE GOVERNMENT FOR CANCELED. THE CHALLENGES OF JINAPOR GABBY.
My attention was drawn to an article by Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko on Facebook, in which he claims that the Akufo-Addo government saved Ghana $ 7.6 billion from the termination of 11 energy purchase agreements entered into by the former Mahama government.
Ordinarily, I would have treated this artificial statement with the contempt it deserves. However, because of the proximity of Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko to President Akufo-Addo and the enormous political influence he exerts, I feel it is necessary to redress the bar.
Contradictions
On November 17, 2017, the Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko, informed the general public that the Ministry of Energy had achieved savings of 7.6 billion US dollars through the termination of some 11 Power purchase agreements (PPA) over a period of 13 years.
Soon after the resignation of Boakye Agyarko, the new Minister of Energy, Hon. John Peter Amewu unveiled a totally different figure at a press conference held Thursday, September 20, 2018.
At the said press conference, Amewu said that the Ministry of Energy had achieved savings of $ 6.8 billion through the termination of the same power purchase contracts.
However, these claims were only recently dismissed by the GEC (who is the lessee and the signatory of the agreements) during a presentation to the Special Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy.
It is therefore laughable that a government of more than 120 ministers relies on a citizen, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, to develop such vile propaganda.
FACTS
On November 13, 2016, a Cabinet report on the energy sector prepared by the Ministry of Energy, the Energy Commission and the World Bank (IBRD and IDA) recommended the following: abandonment of certain energy purchase agreements that may have been closed.
Among the findings of this report, it should be noted that some of these independent suppliers are not complying with their contractual obligations, thereby prolonging the country's energy deficit and challenges.
It should be noted that most of these PPAs could only come into force after certain preconditions have been met.
However, these claims were only recently dismissed by the GEC (who is the lessee and the signatory of the agreements) during a presentation to the Special Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy.
It is therefore laughable that a government of more than 120 ministers relies on a citizen, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, to develop such vile propaganda.
FACTS
On November 13, 2016, a Cabinet report on the energy sector prepared by the Ministry of Energy, the Energy Commission and the World Bank (IBRD and IDA) recommended the following: abandonment of certain energy purchase agreements that may have been closed.
Among the findings of this report, it should be noted that some of these independent suppliers are not complying with their contractual obligations, thereby prolonging the country's energy deficit and challenges.
It should be noted that most of these PPAs could only come into force after certain preconditions have been met.
Clearly, the Akufo-Addo government and the NPP have lost their concentration, hence their continued recourse to begging and pure political quarreling.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Rather than continually complaining about Ghana's excess capacity, the Akufo-Addo government should focus on extending national electricity coverage and exporting electricity to neighboring countries.
Since taking office, the Akufo-Addo government has only managed to increase that derisively 1% increase in national electricity.
Even more disturbing is the fact that the extension of our 161KV to 330KV transmission lines, started under the former Mahama government with the intention of increasing electricity exports to Burkina Faso and other neighboring countries, is stalled under this government. These are tricky issues that should hold the government's attention.
Finally, I would strongly suggest to the President that his government, instead of constantly lamenting, should take advantage of the additional production capacity bequeathed by former President Mahama to promote his flickering and fuzzy promise.
John Abdulai Jinapor
Former Deputy Minister of Energy and Petroleum
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