Joseph Kofi Adda
A former Energy Minister in the erstwhile Kufuor administration, Joseph Kofi Adda, has condemned the latest measures adopted by the Energy Ministry to enable Ghanaians watch the 2014 World Cup.
According to him, there are better ways in which government could save energy to enable Ghanaians to enjoy the World Cup matches in the comfort of their homes rather than asking them to switch off fridges and other gadgets.
The former Navrongo Central legislator said government must procure sufficient diesel at the cost of between US$8 and US$10 million to operate the Emergency Generating Plants strategically deployed in Accra and beyond to augment the shortfall in power generation.
The former Energy Minister said the containerized generators procured during his tenure have the capacity of generating 126 megawatts power.
He dispelled the assertions by Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobbey, a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the VRA that the generators were toy machines.
He stated that the generators were previously used by the Government of Ghana in 1990s to end energy crisis when Dr. Wereko-Brobbey himself was Energy Advisor in the Ministry of Energy.
‘Indeed, during the energy crisis of 1997, those same type of generators were contracted to support VRA with generation, but came in rather too late yet the suppliers were seeking to be paid through a judgment debt through arbitration but the NPP government of President Kufuor refused to honour such a payment, he revealed.
The plan, he explained, was to deploy them at strategic positions throughout the country.
He wondered why they are currently being kept in Bolgatanga, Tamale, Kumasi, Takoradi and Accra to date.
These machines, in addition to other major turbines like Alstom Turbines, he added, are the bona fide property of the Ghanaian taxpayer.
The NDC government, he alleged, has persistently refused to use them because the government claims it cannot buy diesel to run them.
He maintained that the inability of government to pay debts owed Sunon Asogli had compounded the country’s energies woes.
Government, he alleged, had prioritized the payments of unjustified judgment debts, as well as the siphoning of funds through GYEEDA, SUBAH and SADA.
The attempts by NDC gurus and some past senior officials of VRA to sell the Alstom Turbines to themselves, he claimed, had delayed the implementation of the 220 megawatts plant acquired with taxpayers’ money in 2007.
According to him, other plants like the Athol Plant, the Mines Reserve Plant, Sunon Asogli, as well as the Bui Hydro Dam were all initiated by the NPP government.
He bemoaned sabotage on the part of government in the construction of 16 mini-hydro dams that were to be funded by the Chinese and Brazilians.
He called on Ghanaians to vote against the NDC government in 2016, which would go down in the history of country as the most corrupt government to administer the affairs of the nation.
From Stephen Zoure, Tamale
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