Ayariga lampoons Mahama's ECG-MCC concession deal as ‘bad, wrong’

Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga, of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has said the decision by the John Mahama administration to let the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) enter Ghana’s power system through a concession deal is not only "wrong" but "bad".

Under the Power Compact, six projects will be implemented to address the root causes of the unavailability and unreliability of power in Ghana.

The project comprises ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, NEDCo Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, Regulatory Strengthening and Capacity Building Project, and Access Project.

The rest are Power Generation Sector Improvement Project and Energy Efficiency, and Demand Side Management Project.

The Government of Ghana signed the Ghana Power Compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent United States government agency, on the sidelines of the US Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington on August 5, 2014 while Mr John Mahama was president.

The Ghana Power Compact will provide Ghana with a grant sum of US$498,200,000 to improve the performance of Ghana’s power sector, unlock the country’s economic potential, create jobs, and reduce poverty.

About US$350 million of the grant is being invested in ECG to make the country’s power distributor operationally and financiallyefficient.

The Compact is being implemented by the Government of Ghana through the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA).

In Mr Ayariga’s view, however, “The entire deal is unnecessary”. “My government took the decision but I think it was wrong,” he stressed on Multi TV’s news analysis programme Newsfile hosted by Samson Lardy Anyenini on Saturday, 10 March.

“… I think we should rethink our position on the matter,” he said.