Minority accuses President of wrong claims on energy sector debt

The Minority Caucus in Parliament on Thursday said recent pronouncements that President Nana Akufo-Addo in Toronto, Canada made about previous Mahama-led administration was incorrect.

They said the President claimed that the former administration created a debt of US$5.2 billion in the energy sector.

Mr Adam Mutawakilu, the Ranking Member on Mines and Energy speaking at a News conference in Parliament, in Accra, stated that the Minority Caucus became alarmed at the rising and crippling debt in the country’s energy sector.

President Nana Akufo-Addo in his recent visit to Toronto, Canada is reported to have said that “his government inherited a $5.2 billion debt in Ghana’s energy sector from the previous Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, half of which was paid, while the remainder hanged on the neck of his administration like an albatross.

“The situation is responsible for the constant power outages, Ghanaians were forced to endure, were from the previous Mahama-led administration”.

Mr Mutawakilu also stated that President Akufo-Addo made inaccurate claims about the debt in the energy sector in a bid to conceal the true state of affairs.

He noted that the Minority did not only find the statements wrong, but also an attempt by the President to shirk responsibility for the poor management of the country’s energy sector, which remained a backbone to the Ghanaian economy.

He cited for example that in February 2017, when President Akufo-Addo delivered the State of the Nation Address (SONA) to Parliament, he disclosed that “the power sector debt stood at US$2.4 billion at the end 2016.”

Additionally, in June 2017, when the President addressed the opening of the 2017 World Bank Development Finance Forum in Accra, he disclosed that government would soon issue a $2.5 billion bond to offset the legacy debt of the energy sector in order to create space for increased investment.

Mr Mutawakilu, therefore, called on President Akufo-Addo to provide further and better particulars on his claim that the NDC handed over a debt of US$5.2 billion in the energy sector.

He demanded that government should account to Ghanaians on how the monies raised from the Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA) were utilised and how they intended to pay the debt owed the utilities to provide the required liquidity in the sector.

The Ranking Member gave assurance that the Minority Caucus would continue to expose any attempt by the government to deceive Ghanaians and to cover up their poor governance of the country, which brought hardship to the poor.

Mr Mutawakilu called on President Akufo-Addo to address the liquidity and operational challenges in the country’s energy sector, and insisted that President should clearly show his intent to revive entities like the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), and the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) which he said were currently not operational.