Former Minister of Energy Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has told the Finance Ministry to settle its indebtedness to Sunon Asogli Power, an independent power producer.
This was after the company had raised concerns about the debts owed to it by the government. The company threatened to shut down its 560MW plant over the debt but rescinded “in view of the intervention and assurance of the Minister of Finance and Minister of State.”
In a statement, the company said, “Kindly confirm our understanding that we shall be paid an interim sum of $60 million in two tranches. The first tranche $30 million to be paid this week and the second tranche in the week of 11th December 2023.”
The Independent Power Producer (IPP) in a letter addressed to the Electricity
“This difficult decision became necessary due to avoidable delays in payment from the GoG/Electricity Company of Ghana for power supplied, as well as the unproductive engagements to find an amicable solution.”
In a statement, Mr Armah-Kofi Buah said ” I have come across a statement issued by the Company which cites a host of reasons including protracted delays in payment of invoices, and what it describe as ‘unproductive engagement’ to resolve government’s outstanding to them.
“This unfortunate but unsurprising development is indicative of the gross mismanagement that has plagued the energy sector under this Akufi-Addo/Bawumia-led NPP government.
The once-thriving energy sector bequeathed to the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government has now been thrown into complete disarray due to gross management of the sector.
“One of the contributing factors to the power crisis is the continuous mismanagement and misapplication of the Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA) , which was introduced by the previous NDC government to address energy sector debts.
“The erstwhile NDC government led by President Mahama in its determination to strengthen the financial base of the power sector, promulgated a special purpose vehicle called the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA) in 2016 to deal with the energy sector legacy debts by raising long-term bonds in addressing the financial challenges facing the sector, particularly in debt management.”
By Laud Nartey
