Renowned Broadcaster and host of the Good Morning Ghana programme on Metro TV, Dr Randy Abbey, has asked why the government has been silent on allegations made by the former Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko, on the Ameri deal.
Speaking on his programme on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, Dr Abbey wondered why the government has not responded to the serious allegations by a former cabinet minister, who is also a New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential hopeful, which implicate the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
“Mr Boakye Agyarko brings back the Ameri issues by making some serious revelations or allegations against the president, against Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko and the other persons. I’m yet to see or read a response from the government. This is about the second week and we are yet to see a response.
“This was a cabinet minister, in fact, he was the campaign manager for then candidate (Akufo-Addo), he is a senior member of the party (NPP) and in fact, he has been vetted and approved to run as a presidential candidate.
“He is saying these things and he is pointing to the president; he is pointing to others; he is mentioning names. We know the controversy around this whole Ameri deal, the issue of executive approval … corruption, insider dealings and others. Now this person makes all these allegations and it is like nobody wants to speak to it,” he said.
He added that the government’s silence on the former energy minister's allegation is similar to the illegal mining report by the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation which was ignored by President Akufo-Addo for years.
“… What are we expected to take from that. Are we expected to accept that what he said is the truth and we should live with it? Or if he is peddling untruth shouldn’t something be done?” he asked.
What Boakye Agyarko said?
New Patriotic Party Flagbearer hopeful, Boakye Agyarko, reportedly narrated some alleged incidents that transpired during the re-negotiation of the 250 Megawatts Ameri Power Plant when he was the Minister for Energy.
According to a news report by energynewsafrica.com, Boakye Agyarko in an interview on Kumasi-based Asanteman FM, alleged that New Patriotic Party (NPP) stalwart, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, re-negotiated the Ameri deal without the consent of the committee set up by the government to work on the deal.
He added that when he confronted Gabby on the matter, he told him to be quiet because President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was already in the know of the steps he (Gabby) had taken.
He narrated that he was on a flight to the United States of America when Gabby called him, lamenting about not being able to reach him.
“I told him I was onboard a flight travelling. Then he (Gabby) told me that he was sending me a document via email so I should check.
“When I arrived safely and went to my hotel room, I opened my email address and saw the document. To my surprise, Gabby had, on the blind side of the Committee set up and approved by the President to renegotiate with Ameri Energy Group, contracted a law firm to engage Ameri Energy Group and completed their negotiation and recommended a certain company to operate the Ameri Power Plant and extended the contract to 20 years.
“I sent Gabby a mail and asked him what authority he had to do that. And I told him Cabinet has given specific instructions to follow and his response was what makes me think that my Boss (President Akufo-Addo) doesn’t know about what he has done…so I kept quiet,” he is quoted to have said by energynewsafrica.com.
The former energy minister said that when he spoke to President Akufo-Addo on the matter, the president asked him whether there was something wrong with what Gabby did.
Boakye Agyarko said that he told the president that, “the authority to renegotiate the terms of the Ameri Power Plant doesn’t lie in the hands of Gabby and that the proposal the firm he contracted made had violated all the Cabinet instructions and extended the contract to 20 years.”
Agyarko added that Akufo-Addo agreed with his reasoning but went ahead and asked him to forward the deal Gabby had negotiated to the committee that was set up to renegotiate the deal.
Watch the interview below:
BAI/NOQ
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