Former Deputy Minister of Power, John Jinapor, has refuted claims made by the Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, Samuel Atta Kyea, that the previous John Mahama administration signed power purchase agreements costing the country over $320 million.
Speaking in an interview on Citi FM, Jinapor placed some blame on the current government for losses in the energy sector.
At the press briefing held on Wednesday, June 14, Chairman Atta Kyea accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of signing 43 take-or-pay power purchase agreements, resulting in the government having to pay over $320 million in 2018 for unused power charges. However, John Jinapor dismissed these allegations, stating that the losses incurred in the energy sector were partly due to factors other than the power purchase agreements.
Jinapor pointed out that the losses were associated with factors such as increased Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) losses, forex losses, exchange rate differentials, and unnecessary political interference. He emphasized that these payments should not be seen as excess capacity, but rather as power delivered.
He also highlighted the government’s decision to exclude the power reserve margin of 20 percent from the tariff structure, which he considered a political decision.
“The problem is a result of forex losses, exchange rate differentials, and the unnecessary political interference which is leading to this payment and it cannot be attributed to former president Mahama. Immediately these PPAs expire, they quickly renew them and not from the five years that we did but for fifteen years. We will not allow these double standards to go because the facts speak for themselves.”
“Some of the agreements he has said were not signed by Mahama, so he has to give the 43. This is a simple analogy. You said the man signed 43 agreements, provide the 43,” citnewsroom.com quoted him to have said.
Source: ghanaweb.com
