Africa-Press – Ghana. Mr. John Abdulai Jinapor, Minister of Energy and Green Transition, has dismissed claims that the government intends to sell the Electricity Company of Ghana, describing them as unfounded and misleading.
“We are not selling ECG, and let me put on record, we are not selling ECG, far from that. Ignore the misinformation, ignore the misconception. Cabinet has taken a definitive position that we require some level of private sector participation but not to sell the company outright,” he stated.
Speaking on a local media platform, the Minister explained that the government would request qualifications from top private companies through a competitive bidding process, evaluate them, request proposals, and then select a concessionaire.
He indicated that the concessionaire must demonstrate financial and technical capacity.
“By that, they would simply buy bulk power from ECG and sell. ECG’s concern will then be, I give you this amount of power, PURC’s will be, this is the price we’ve guaranteed for you, you can’t charge above that. Your duty is to sell that power, collect that power, in terms of money, put it in a dedicated account. ECG takes it and whatever is left is yours,” he stated.
Commenting on the ongoing load shedding nationwide, Mr. Jinapor said his administration inherited the challenge from the previous government, which was shedding about 500 megawatts of power.
“If the roads are bad, people are unhappy, if water does not flow, people are unhappy, but in the nights when the light goes out, people get very upset and angry. That’s what I’ve seen, so naturally people want to see lights on, which is expected. That is one of the major problems and something we inherited.”
He noted that institutions such as ECG, PURC, Energy Commission, GRiDCo, and VRA played roles in the energy sector, yet it was the Minister who faces public scrutiny.
“What they know is that there’s a Minister appointed by the President to superintend over this sector. So legitimately so, the people of Ghana will always hold the Minister responsible for that, and I take full responsibility for it,” he said.
Mr. Jinapor disclosed that Karpowership Ghana Limited, a supplier of electricity, had issued a notice threatening to shut down its plant in seven days over unpaid bills inherited from the previous administration.
“We’ve been trying every day to engage them so they give us some breathing space, but they simply will not budge,” he said.
The minister revealed that ECG’s total outstanding liabilities exceed 80 billion cedis, warning, “And it’s mounting, if we do not take care, one day the power sector will collapse.”
Outlining Ghana’s debt portfolio, he stated that Sunon Asogli owed 297 million dollars, Cenit Energy 220 million, Cenpower 423 million, and Karpower 371 million, amounting to a total of 1.7 billion dollars.
“That’s what we’ve inherited. So far, we’ve paid them about 30 million, and we are meeting Karpower on May 2 with the Finance Minister over it,” he said.
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