The minority in parliament has vowed to unravel the flaws in the GNPC/Genser agreement to guarantee value for money.
According to the minority, the GNPC-GENSER agreement requires an urgent review to ensure a level playing field for all industry players and transparency in gas pricing. It revealed that the call for a thorough review of the agreement is premised on among others, the minority’s concern that the agreement combines the Gas Sales Agreement (GSA) and the Gas Transmission Agreement (GTA), which does not ensure transparency in the pricing of gas.
Contained in a statement signed by the deputy minority leader, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, he revealed that he has personally dedicated his political career towards building robust energy security for the country since he had the opportunity to serve on Ghana’s first-ever Gas task force as deputy Energy minister under President Mills which led to the establishment of Ghana Gas and the development of the country’s gas infrastructure and supervised the historic construction of ENI’s OCTP gas- power project as Energy Minister under President John Mahama.
“On behalf of the NDC minority colleagues on the joint committee of Finance and Mines and Energy, we pledge to unravel all the flaws in the agreement to guarantee value for money. We take this position with a firm conviction that the heart and soul of Ghana’s future lies in our energy security and all the critical issues related to it, including transparent gas pricing.”
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah
In light of this, he stated that there is the need for a review to also address the shifting of the agreement from Ghana Gas company and the signing of the agreement by GNPC when Ghana Gas is supposed to be the gas transmission utility (NGTU). He indicated that the discount given to Genser by GNPC for the gas transmission agreement and GNPC’s inability to explain satisfactorily how this discount will be recovered, must be ascertained.
“We appreciate the timely intervention by the Rt Hon Speaker to rope in the finance committee to work jointly with the Mines and Energy Committee to deal with these outstanding issues to ensure that Ghana is not shortchanged.”
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah
Minority demands appraisal of agreement
Furthermore, Mr Buah reckoned that the Minority believes the issues are now appropriately presented before parliament and demand thorough appraisal. With this, he highlighted that it is therefore unfortunate that the Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee rushed with the report to the public domain while pending a new referral.
“Transparency and accountability should be the guiding principles in this process, and any premature public statements can potentially compromise the integrity of the new referral which is in the pipeline.”
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah
The deputy minority leader further expressed that these projects have had a transformative impact on the country’s energy sector, and that he takes great pride in the instrumental role he played in their successful implementation. This, he emphasized, is certainly a “record I intend to guard jealously”.
“The NDC minority is committed to upholding the interests of the people of Ghana and believes that we must strike the right balance between private enterprise and social benefit. The Minority further request that the chairman of the finance and Energy committees convey a meeting forthwith to consider the speaker’s referral.”
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah
To this end, Mr Buah assured Ghanaians that the minority will not compromise the trust reposed in it by the people. He expressed that the GNPC/Genser agreement, as it stands, raises significant concerns that cannot be overlooked and must be addressed.
READ ALSO: Tamale Airport Will Serve As An Alternative To Kotoka International Airport- Bawumia
