The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that the country continues to endure power challenges due to the mismanagement of public funds by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He said the government’s failure to pay Independent Power Generators (IPGs) – the producers of electricity that support the state-owned Akosombo plant is to blame for the current disruptions in power supply.
Mr Ablakwa claimed that his recent discussions with some independent power producers in the country revealed that the government owes them substantial amounts of money.
“We have a real problem at hand. I have been in talks with independent power generators, and the government owes them $1.6 billion in monthly invoices. If you look at what is at the PPA [Public Procurement Authority], it is over $2 billion, and that is frightening. The government negotiates with them, promising to pay over a four-year period. Even so, the negotiations they had with them since last year have not been honoured,” he said.
He further explained how the Nana Addo government signed some contracts that are now defunct, while the funds used for these contracts could have been used to settle the debts and improve the power sector.
“The crisis we face now is due to the mismanagement of the economy, where our resources have been squandered on dubious deals. $12 million for Pwalugu, and we can’t find it; $12 million for the Agyapa deal, they can’t explain; $2.5 million for the Skytrain, and we can’t find the money; $2 million paid for Sputnik V, and we can’t find it; over $58 million for the National Cathedral, we can’t find it; the DRIP project, which has been inflated by over $100 million – that’s all they are doing with our money. If these resources, which have been directed towards corruption, had been used to pay these IPPs, we wouldn’t be in the situation we are in now,” he said on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, November 21.
The legislator, therefore, called on the government to “stop the corruption and pay the independent power generators”.
Mr Ablakwa further lamented that these debts would be inherited by the next NDC government. He added that the power issue in the country was addressed long ago by John Mahama, but the Nana Addo government had failed to sustain the gains.
The Asogli plant has shut down, causing disruptions in power distribution. There are fears this could worsen in the coming days as two more IPPs have vowed to shut down if they’re not paid by the government.
