According to him, the government had and would continue to put in place the necessary measures to end the crisis by the end of the year, as indicated in his maiden media encounter early this year following his appointment as the Power Minister.

 

“Come January 1, 2016, if there is still load shedding, I will not sit at this ministry as sector minister. I would have failed, and I will sack myself even before anyone sacks me. We will not let this country down,” Dr. Donkor said at the inauguration of three subsidiary boards of the Volta River Authority in Accra yesterday.

 

The government, ministry and its agencies, he said, were determined to let the energy crisis be a thing of the past, and remained committed to that promise as stated by the President in his State of the Nation Address early this year.

 

To achieve that, the minister said the VRA and all other power generation entities would be given the necessary support which would make them achieve that target.

 

He said it was uncalled for, for the country to continue to face energy crisis at a time when energy had become the main driver of the economy.

 

He said the fixation that the power badges, which were expected into the country to help address the crisis, would solve the problem, was erroneous and should be discarded, adding “it is only one element in the solution box government has considered”.

 

The three non-power boards inaugurated are the VRA Property Company (PROPCo) division, VRA International Schools Limited and VRA Health Services Limited.

 

Dr Donkor said the separation of the non-power but profit-making entities of the authority had become crucial for the managers of the power generation section to focus on its core mandate to generate enough to feed businesses and homes.

 

He said it was imperative for the boards and managements to effectively cooperate for the agencies to be financially sound to even assist the VRA in terms of financial difficulties.

 

As social service providers to the general public, Dr. Donkor said professionalism should remain their watchword as demands of Ghanaians in relation to their respective boards, continued to soar.

 

The Board Chairman of the VRA, Mr. Lee Ocran, said for the subsidiary companies to enhance their organizational capabilities and market objectives, corporate plans had been developed to guide them and promised of the companies’ autonomy to enhance their operations.

 

On behalf of the boards, a member of the Health Services Board (HSB), Dr. Ken Sagoe, said they would do all within their power to live up to the expectations required of them.