Government says the over 40 power-purchasing agreements signed by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) will come under scrutiny in the days ahead.
A number of these agreements may have to be cancelled, the leader of government has said.
As at the end of 2016, the Company is said to have signed 43 agreements with a further 23 under discussion.
But President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says his government will review the agreements in an attempt to reduce cost in the energy sector.
Addressing Parliament on the state of the nation, the first for him, on Tuesday, February 21, President Akufo-Addo said his government has inherited a heavily indebted energy sector.
He noted that a net debt of $2.4 billion was left by the previous government.
“I have to point out that $800 million is owed to local banks that threaten their stability and the whole of the financial sector.”
The president therefore announced that stringent measures will have to be adopted to ensure stability in the energy sector.
One of the measures is to review the over 60 power-purchasing agreements by ECG.
But in an interview with TV3’s Evelyn Tengmaa, Former Minister of Energy and Petroleum Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah dismissed the president’s assertion, saying the agreements span as far back as 2002.
He said what government has to do is to prioritise the agreements since the former president, John Dramani Mahama, signed them due to his foresight to make Ghana energy sufficient.
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