Government Shortchanging Ghanaians – Minority

The Minority in Ghana’s Parliament has accused government of short changing Ghanaians, following the approval of the Early Power Deal that will see the country pay over one billion cedis for a 400 megawatts power plant.
The 20-year deal was passed amidst vehement opposition from the Minority in Parliament.
The Minority Leader, Osie Kyei Mensah said although Parliament has passed the deal his side will remain opposed to it.
“Mr. Speaker I am saying that generating 400 megawatts should ordinarily cause us 400 million dollars and this is known to everyone in the world and that is why I am saying that we should not wait and do this emergency procurement. I am saying that we didn’t have to push ourselves into this situation when this situation started about four years ago. If we had done this procurement earlier, Mr. Speaker I beg to state that perhaps over 1 million dollars would have been saved.”
Deal capped at $647 million
The Deputy Minister of Power, John Jinapor earlier defended the deal when it was proposed.
He made further attempts to assure the House that it was in the interest of Ghanaians and also government.
He also noted that the amount was capped at $647 million.
“It is out there that Parliament is approving a $953 million project which is inaccurate. The report says that the project is capped at $647 million so let no one go out there and create the impression that Parliament did not do a good job and that Parliament approved a $953 million project cost instead of the $647 million,” he explained.
About the power deal
Early Power Limited entered into the agreement with the Government of Ghana, together with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Sage Petroleum Limited, Endeavor and EPL Holdings Cooperative, UA, General Energy Investments (GE) IBV, and Quantum Gas Terminals.
The project will involve the development, ownership, operation and management of the 400 MW Combined Cycle Plant to be fueled by either Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) or Natural Gas (NG) for a 20-year period by Early Power Limited in Tema, strategically close to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
Beyond the 20-year period, the power plant will transfer to a nominated entity by the Government of Ghana at a purchase price of US$1.00.