ENERGY SECTOR DISTORTIONS - PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO MUST RECONNECT WITH TRUTH AND REALITY
I have read with
dismay a publication attributed to the President of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-Addo in which the president is reported to have made statement
amongst others to the effect that he's clearing Mahama's $2.4 billion legacy
debts, the President further alleges that: “today, we are exporting
energy to Burkina Faso, we will begin, again, to Togo."
President Akufo-Addo
is also reported to have said he resolved "dumsor" inherited from
President Mahama.
By all standards, the
President is once again engaging in deliberate misinformation and peddling
falsehood for petty political parochial interest.
Electricity Export
Firstly, it is
important to point out that Ghana has been exporting electricity to its
neighbours for decades.
Available
records from the Energy Commission confirms that Ghana exported 530MW in
2013, 522MW in 2014, 587MW in 2015, and 187MW in 2016.
On the specific issue
of exporting power to Burkina Faso, it ought to be understood that to ensure
that we develop a resilient and efficient transmission system with the
potential of exporting additional power to neighbouring countries, the
Mills/Mahama administration signed the “Inter-Zonal Transmission Hub Project
Agreement with the World Bank and other partners, which became effective on
14th December, 2012.
The objective of the
project was to reduce the cost of electricity and security of electricity
supply to Burkina Faso, while increasing Ghana’s electricity export capacity,
generally.
The project involved
the construction of approximately 200-kilometre-long power evacuation
infrastructure expected to evacuate electrical energy supply generated in Ghana
directly to Burkina Faso.
The Ghana section of
the project covers the construction of approximately 39.3 kilometers of the
330kV transmission line and the extension of the existing 161 KV sub-station in
Bolgatanga to accommodate the line.
The project, which was
funded by the World Bank, French Development Agency, European Investment Bank,
Burkina Faso’s National Electricity Company (SONABEL) and GRIDCo from Ghana
with an amount of €81.1million, was expected to be completed by end of
September 2017.
It therefore, comes as
a surprise that instead of acknowledging and commending his predecessor for
implementing this noble project, the President rather used the occasion to cast
aspersions and make false claims about the energy sector in the most
unstatesmanly kind.
Even more disturbing
is the fact that the project has currently stalled due to the current precarious
financial status of GRIDCo. The financials of GRIDCo has deteriorated so
much in recent years that AFD, the financier of this project has suspended the
release of funds for the project.
Ending Dumsor
Contrary to the
utterly false claim by Mr. President that he ended what has become known as
Dumsor, the evidence points to the fact that load shedding (DUMSOR) was
officially declared over by the end of December 2015.
As is generally well
acknowledged, load shedding was never declared in the whole of year 2016 having
achieved adequate thermal generation.
The claim by President
Akufo-Addo that he inherited an erratic power supply system is contemptous and
unbecoming of the first gentleman of our nation.
The Ministry of Energy
and Petroleum under President John Mahama undertook many key projects such as
the 450MW Karpowership, 200MW Kpone Thermal Power Project (KTPP), 360MW Asogli
Project; 20 MW BXC Solar Project; 250MW AMERI Project, 250MW AKSA 250, 50MW
Trojan Project amongst others.
President Akufo-Addo
knows he indeed inherited a resilient, reliable and vibrant energy
infrastructure including the Energy Sector Levy Account which is generating
over 3.5 billion Cedis annually.
Rather than ingloriously
churning out fabricated and concocted stories, the President should focus
his energy on dealing with the power crisis his administration has plunged the
nation into.
The current load
shedding is as a result of mismanagement and incompetence by a Government that
lacks the knowledge and sincerity in managing the sector.
Energy Sector Debt
The President's claim
that he is paying Mahama’s US$2.4bn can only be coming from a desperate man
latching onto straws. If the President wants to appraise himself with the debt
situation in the energy sector, he can read Page 17 of the ESLA PLC prospectus
prepared by the Finance Minister on the actual energy sector total debt.
The ESLA prospectus
clearly reveals that the accumulated debt which transcends the Mahama
administration was lower than US$2 billion dollars and only rose to
US$2.1Billion by 30th August, 2018 under this government.
Today, as a result of
former President Mahama’s long term vision, this government inherited an Energy
Sector Levy Account which generates over GHC3.5 Billion yearly, a levy
NPP strongly opposed in opposition. Surprisingly, the revenues accrued from
this levy is being misapplied, thereby rendering the Energy sector financially
bankrupt.
Under this government and
the watch of the President, the Energy sector is accumulating fresh debt of
over US$1 billion per annum. This debt keeps compounding and is actually
grounding the Energy Sector SOES by the day.
Its therefore not
surprising that the action of the President has returned the country to the
dreaded days of dumsor.
Ghana with an
installed Capacity of almost twice its peak demand is currently shedding over
300MW of electricity with no end in sight.
Without a scintilla of
doubt, President Akuffo-Addo's performance in the energy sector has been rather
abysmal, to say the least.
President Akufo-Addo
has succeeded in eroding all the gains former President Mahama achieved and
therefore the last thing Ghanaians will tolerate is a President who
disingenuously ignores the sordid reality and engages in deplorable acts of
self adulation.
John Abdulai
Jinapor
Former Deputy Minister
of Energy and Petroleum
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