AMERI ‘Swallows’ VRA

Agitated staff of the Volta River Authority (VRA) have protested against government’s decision to cede three assets of the power generating company to external parties.
The assets, which include the T3 plant in the Aboadze thermal enclave, MRP at the Tema Thermal Power station and a parcel of land at the Kpone Thermal Power Station, are to be ceded to AMERI, Sunon-Asogli and the Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC) – all private entities.
Those projects were funded by VRA and the workers are at a loss why government would want to take that path, looking at the amount of investment that had gone into it.
The T3 at Aboadze has not been functioning because the company’s share of the gas from Atuabo has been diverted to AMERI.
The workers have therefore threatened to embark on a demonstration today to demand the return of the three assets to the Authority, stating that the three assets are crucial to the sustenance of the Volta River Authority as a major player in the energy sector in Ghana and the West Africa sub-region.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Executive of the VRA, Isaac Kirk Koffi, who appears to be on the side of the executive, the staff said, “We have resolved to utilize all available lawful means to resist the perpetration of unwarranted dissipation of the Authority’s assets.”
“We wish to state unequivocally that we are vehemently opposed to the overt and covert actions of the Ministry of Power which are in clear breach of section 2 Act 46, which establishes the Authority as an autonomous institution,” they said.
According to the workers who are led by the Union, they do not understand why government, without any consultation, would take a decision to cede those three important assets to a third party to manage.
The staffs warned that they would not yield to government’s intervention to stop them from going on demonstration.
Minister’s Defence
However, the Deputy Minister of Power, John Jinapor, attributed the impasse to “miscommunication.”
Speaking on Joy News yesterday, he said the ministry would be meeting again with the workers and would address whatever concerns they have, if those concerns are legitimate.
Mr. Jinapor said whilst government is “not interested in dissipating the assets of VRA,” he believes there are always “strategic partners” ready to work with government to solve the power problems.
On why the government is parting with the parcel of land at Kpone, John Jinapor said companies do approach VRA for many transactions and if one of the companies wants a parcel of land and it is “good business,” it will be considered without foisting it on the workers.
“We will be meeting them and we will take it from there. We all must ensure that we resolve the problem. I don’t think demonstration alone will resolve it,” he underscored.