Energy contracts had value for money - Jinapor

Every contract awarded in the power sector in Ghana followed due process, hence assertions by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that deals in the power sector had no value for money are untenable, John Jinapor, former Deputy Minister of Power, has said.

His comment follows claims by Mr Akufo-Addo in his maiden State of the Nation Address to parliament on Tuesday February 21 that several contracts awarded in the energy sector did not have value for money, hence some of them would be reviewed.

The president told Parliament: “As at the end of 2016, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) had signed 43 Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) whilst a further 23 were under discussion. Government is conducting a review of all the power agreements entered into by the previous government in order to prioritise, renegotiate, defer, or cancel outright, if necessary, in the national interest.

“Overall, we have begun to develop a national electricity master plan, which will also explore the benefits of listing VRA and GRIDCO on the Stock Exchange. Mr. Speaker, my government will enforce the procurement law. We will insist on open and competitive bidding for power capacity procurement. This will not only reduce the cost of power projects and ensure value for money, but will also address the problem of unplanned procurement.

“Government will encourage increased private sector investment in utility scale solar and wind energy projects, as well as accelerate the development of mini-grid solutions in off-grid and island communities for lighting, irrigation and other economic activities. We will, consequently, review the Renewable Energy Act to provide further incentives to attract the private sector to invest.

“Mr Speaker, the Ghana Compact II programme has officially come into force. Both parties to the Compact, the governments of Ghana and United States of America, are committed to complying with their obligations. However, the implementation of Ghana’s commitments has faced some challenges due to disagreements between stakeholders, particularly between labour, ECG and the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA). We need further dialogue on the key issues that have generated these disagreements. We are aware that these discussions should be concluded urgently in order to arrive at the decisions that will allow for its implementation. We expect that all stakeholders will discuss these issues dispassionately and transparently, to ensure that all concerns are adequately addressed.”

However, speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme a few hours after the president’s address, Mr Jinapor said: “Every single procurement that we did had value for money, I am telling you that every single procurement, whether the Ameri deal or the Kar Power deal.

“With Ameri, we went to the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to seek permission and so if you say there was no value for money that would be untenable. If you remember, there were some contracts there which were sole-sourced by the NPP administration (under JA Kufuor). even recently when they took over from the NDC government they have signed some contracts and whether all these contracts went through competitive tender we will know.

“Governance is not just about sole-sourcing and loans, it is not just about competitive tender alone. You take a decision based on the situation. There are also guidelines we followed and so as far as we are concerned every single contract we awarded, we followed the due process.

“That notwithstanding, if they invite us for any questions or answers, we will make ourselves available to explain to them. Let me emphasise that with the Ameri deal, we went to parliament and we met the Committee on Mines and Energy, we went to the floor of parliament and Ameri was approved unanimously by parliament.”