Seth Terkper - Finance Minister
An energy expert has accused government of sabotaging the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to ease the process of concession.
Mr. Seth Birikorang in an interview with Kwabena Agyapong on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM said, the challenges confronting the ECG are well calculated by government to sabotage the ECG, make it unpopular and make it easier for concession.
His comments are in sharp contrast to an earlier statement made by Majority Chief Whip Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak who accused the ECG of undermining President Mahama’s quest to end the erratic power situation [dumsor] which has bedevilled the country for the past four years.
Speaking on the floor of parliament Tuesday, May 24, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase said: “Reports suggest that in several cases, the cost of consumption has more than doubled, and this has imposed undue hardship on virtually all Ghanaians, especially on the ordinary masses”.
“It has come to my notice that where some individuals have complained to ECG, the errors in their billing were corrected, and the problems were somehow resolved, but for the majority of consumers, the overbilling persists. …It has come to my notice that the overall effect of this is that the effort of President John Dramani Mahama to permanently solve the long-standing power crisis is severely being undermined, and the crisis in the supply of electricity is being deepened,” he added.
But the energy expert debunked the allegation by the legislator and rather placed the sabotage on the doorstep of government.
Government has reiterated reasons why plans are underway to privatise the ECG. President Mahama at an Expo held on Tuesday said, the ECG is currently inefficient hence the need for Ghanaians to accept the concession to improve upon the services delivered.
President Mahama justifying reasons for plans for the concession said “You fix a situation by taking risks. It is a risk we took when we deregulated telecommunications. If you are not ready to take risks then the world is not ready to make progress”, said the President.
“We have had this system for years, and it’s not working. If it’s not working, we fix it,” he underscored.
However, Mr. Seth Birikorang said government has overspent its expenditure, thus have no other option than to sell off a state asset to salvage the economy.
According to him, any government whose expenditure is higher than its income is compelled to sell a national asset, a situation that we are currently experiencing under this government.
He indicated that government is seeking for public support to privatise the ECG for "25 good years to an American Company but finds it difficult to do, hence sabotaging the state-owned company to make it inefficient, so the company feels uncomfortable before the public, then sell off."
The continuous power outages he opined are all plans to make the ECG unpopular before the public, and make it easier for government to privatise it.
