President was right to boot out Boakye Agyarko - COPEC Executive Secretary

Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers [COPEC], Mr. Duncan Amoah has emphatically stated that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was right to remove former Energy Minister Boakye Ayarko from office.

According to him, the President did no wrong and couldn’t have taken any better decision because the Minister acted on his behalf as an expert by doing thorough investigations before briefing him.

“Anyone who will be against Boakye Agyako’s removal from office does not understand the terms in which the sector operates, and I say the President acted perfectly on his decision taken on the matter,” he said.

To him this happened because the President believed Boakye Agyarko as a professional who understood the sector better.

“Boakye Agyarko need to immediately break his silence on the persons involved in the negotiations,” he advised.

Mr. Duncan Amoah in an interview on UTV’s ‘Adekye Nsroma’ programme called on all Public Officers and political appointees to make sure their deliveries are made based on value for money, public good and geared towards the presidential agenda.

“We pray Peter Amewu, the newly appointed Energy Minister will restructure a lot of things in the energy sector because there are a lot of set-ups that could be done to cut down debts in most of the agencies under the energy sector, which will in return generate income for government”.

BACKGROUND

Ex- President John Dramani Mahama’s administration signed a $510 million contract with AMERI to build power plants, own and operate it for five years before transferring it to the Government of Ghana during the energy crisis in 2015.

This was done on a sole-sourced basis after a meeting between the former President of the Republic of Ghana and the Crown Prince of Dubai.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) then in opposition described the agreement as a “stinking deal” which will be re-looked at when it assumes power.

A 17-member committee established by the Ex-Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko advised the government to re-negotiate the $510m power deal with UAE-based AMERI energy after a report revealed it was over-priced by $150million.

In responding to two letters from the Ex-Energy Minister requesting for legal advice to suspend monthly payment to AMERI, the Attorney General kicked against the move because “the deal is valid” and satisfies Ghana’s procurement processes.

In her response dated November 27, 2017, Ms. Akuffo noted the Government of Ghana “entered into a very unfavourable agreement with AMERI”, adding the only way out is for the government to “renegotiate the deal with AMERI with a view to achieving a more favourable term.”