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‘We must get value for money spent
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By John Eche
Underscoring its resolve to do away with what it terms ‘unsatisfactory deals entered into by its predecessors in office, the 100-day old administration of President Nana Akufo Addo has presently cancelled 20 power deals and in the process saving the nation as much as $300m.
Vice president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, disclosed this in Accra on Monday.
According to him, the NPP administration has abrogated about 20 power purchase agreements that had been signed by the erstwhile Mahama government in order to get better value for money for the country.
According to him, this has saved the country a whopping $300 million.
“We have saved the country $300 million by reviewing and prioritizing the existing power purchasing agreements. We’ve essentially cancelled about 20 of them, we’ve asked four of them to go ahead and the rest to delay by two or three years and in so doing, we have managed to reduce government’s liabilities,” he stated.
The Akufo-Addo government had argued that some of the power agreements the Mahama government entered into were bloated, and were not value for money.
They complained that, in particular, the cost of the controversial Ameri Power deal for example had been inflated by about $150 million, and have threatened to review the agreement.
Speaking at a Joy FM Town Hall meeting, Dr. Bawumia also revealed that the government has secured financing for two major electrification projects, which would extend electricity to over 800 communities when implemented.
He also stated that, they further intend to put government buildings on solar plants instead of piling up debts for government.
“We have in the energy sector taken some major decisions. Anyone who is coming to produce power in Ghana and says we want a power purchase agreement, we are saying that you cannot charge us more than ten cents per kilowatt hour…We’ve also secured financing for two major electrification projects, the Hunan and China projects, and this when implemented, will extend electricity to over 800 communities,” the Vice President added.
Revoking power deals has continued to be a very touchy political subject across West Africa. In Nigeria for example, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, only recently, reiterated the resolve of the Buhari administeration to yet leave the contracts with the much criticised power distribution companies untouched, pleading the need to continue to communicate fidelity with the privatisation programme.
President Nana Akufo Addo of Ghana
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