Sack This Minister�He Is Best Needed At The Post Office

Ghana�s Energy Minister, Emmanuel Kofi Armah-Buah could be more useful at the Post Office than his current abysmal performance in managing the country�s energy sector, Executive Director of IMANI Center for Policy & Education, Franklin Cudjoe has suggested. In the opinion of Mr. Cudjoe, since the assumption of office, the Energy Minister has failed to initiate any policy guidelines to address the crunching energy crises, which is slowly but surely leading to a shut-down of the entire Ghanaian society. Mr. Armah-Buah has clearly failed to appreciate the problem in the first place, charges the head of Imani Think Thank. �Nothing substantial has happened under this minister to avert our energy woes� and thus, do not deserve to be entertained at the ministry anymore. According to Mr. Cudjoe, the Energy Minister lack of experience in project management and focus is the reason for the current energy situation in the country. In a chat with The Chronicle, Mr. Cudjoe argued that the Minister�s challenge in project management was demonstrated in the number of times the time line for the completion of the Tuabo Gas Pipeline, for instance, has been rescheduled. �Look at the Atuabo gas pipeline, anytime this minister has the opportunity to speak about it, he is min-communicating the time lines and the strategy.� According to Mr. Cudjoe, the Minister could best put his experience as a Postmaster; in transforming the abysmal postal system in the country. The Electricity Company of Ghana has began a nations-wide load shedding exercise on the premise that Nigeria has reneged on its contract terms to deliver 120 cubic feet of gas to Ghana. The Minister of Energy returned last week from a mission to Nigeria to broker a deal for timely delivers without a word to hapless Ghanaians, about the outcome of the meeting with Nigeria, except for the Chief Director who said the meeting was �fruitful.� There are suggestions that Ghana may not get any significant increase in gas supply from Nigeria unless authorities were ready to renegotiate a new price for the commodity. The Chronicle has learned that already, companies are cutting down on their investments in the country, due to the energy crises, heavy taxes and high utility tariffs.