Former deputy communications minister, Felix Ofosu Kwakye, has expressed disappointment in the recent power outages in the country.
According to him, the power outages in the country has been going on for the last couple of weeks and people have made complaints, although there’d been no information forthcoming.
Among other things, he revealed that some monies owed suppliers of gas from oil mix, particularly ENI, has led to the power crisis.
“The simple reason for these shortages is that this government cannot find money to pay for gas supplies from various suppliers, notably from the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo).
“My information is that they owe WAPCo about $20 million, and they have been unable to make good payment despite several promises. So, WAPCo turned down the volumes of gas that they supply and that is why we are in this mess.”
Felix Ofosu Kwakye
Mr Kwakye indicated that the NDC prior to leaving office, ensured there was sufficient generation capacity. In addition to that, he noted that financial arrangement had been put in place, such that Ghana should have received in excess of GHC30 billion from ESLA levy.
“Mind you, this government has increased it by about 40% or so. So, about GHC30 billion should have been available and should translate into the region of something of around $3 billion. This should be sufficient to address the financial difficulties of the sector.
“But if you look closely at how this money has been put to use, you find out it’s been directed into other areas. The last time we checked, some say GHC600 million has been diverted to do something else, the minority complained about it…”
Felix Ofosu Kwakye
GRIDCo’s statement on power outages unacceptable
Furthermore, Mr Kwakye explained that the country shouldn’t be experiencing such crisis because of the arrangements undertaken by the previous administration. With this, he highlighted that this “is a government that has not had reason to add to generation capacity”.
“The heavy lifting was done by Mahama administration. Within a space of about two years, close to 2,000MW capacity in terms of generation was added, then arrangements were made to pay down legacy debts which over the years clogged the sector and gives comfort to creditors and other suppliers who we deal with.
“So, you expected that after 2016, if we were going to have problems, they’d be more minimal than what used to be the case, but the problems appear to have worsened. About three months ago, we were all here when the IPPs threatened to shut down their thermal plants… We have done the heavy lifting for you, just ensure the sector runs smoothly…”
Felix Ofosu Kwakye
Commenting on the press release by GRIDCo citing shortage of gas supply as basis for the shortfalls in power supply, the former deputy communications minister stated that he almost disregarded the statement in terms of its authenticity because it communicated very little.
He underscored that beyond the fact that there was a shortfall of some 450MW due to shortages in gas supply, the statement was very “open-ended”, didn’t indicate when consumers should expect relief of any sort.
Nonetheless, he noted that it is understandable why GRIDCo will put up a statement because it invariably, is the middleman, as it takes power from the producers and supply it in bulk to ECG which does the distribution.
Moreover, Mr Kwakye expressed that the problem was coming from the non-receipts of electricity from the producers to GRIDCo, emphasizing that if GRIDCo was going to put out a statement, then there should have been better coordination with ECG as well, so the distribution company makes an input in terms of timelines.
“But what they did yesterday was most unacceptable, at a time when people were wallowing in darkness and heat and discomfort, the last thing they needed was a confusing, terse message that said nothing.”
Felix Ofosu Kwakye
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