My attention has been drawn to a statement purportedly issued by one Nana Kofi Damoah of the Ministry of Energy which received front page publications in the Daily Searchlight Newspaper of 12th October 2018. In the said publication, Mr. Damoah alleges, amongst other things, that I signed 24 Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) amounting to a whooping US$17.0Billion.
He further makes the claim that, since assuming office, the Akufo Addo administration has cancelled some 11 Power Purchase Agreements and has thereby made a US$7.0billion savings consequent upon the said cancellations.
I wish to state emphatically that the allegations, coming from a discredited and dishonest spokesman, who lacks basic understanding of the energy sector are not only untrue but are false, malicious and untenable.
The statements could only be a figment of the imagination of a spokesperson who doesn't know the rudiments of how this country enters into contractual engagements for the setting up of power plants and the delivery of power. For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to place on record that throughout my 4-year service at the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and subsequently Ministry of Power, I never signed or executed any PPA.
The records are there for all to see unless a mischievous soul. Mr. Damoah must be hallucinating to have come to such a wild, weird and outrageous conclusion. I challenge him and strongly demand of him to publish the purported PPAs that he claims were signed or executed by me, otherwise he should retract the accusation and render an unqualified apology to me and the good people of Ghana to save the little credibility left of him.
Let me take the liberty of this response to educate Mr. Damoah and others who think like him; PPAs, except in some limited and exceptional circumstances, are signed by the distribution companies. It is therefore shocking that, despite Mr. Damoah’s almost 2 years at the Ministry of Energy, he is bereft of such simple procedure and protocols in the execution of a Power Purchase Agreement.
Indeed, this is the character that only a couple of weeks ago, accused a Presidential Staffer of plotting to kill him. On the vexed issue of making savings on the so called cancellation of contracts, Mr. Damoah is only perpetuating his cunning act of chicanery and misinformation.
It is instructive to note that Mr. Boakye Agyarko, then Energy Minister before his ignoble exit, after providing conflicting figures on the so called savings, appeared on the floor of Parliament to state and confirm that the cost of termination of the Power Purchase Agreements would amount to US$402.39 million to the state.
I am of the firm belief and conviction that, just like the infamous AMERI Scandal, this purported cancellations, are yet another attempt to create, loot and share the scarce financial resources of the state. I say so because under no circumstance should the state pay for terminating a contracts arising out of a breach of the express provisions of a Power Purchase Agreement by an Independent Power Producer. More importantly, under the agreements, the state has no financial obligation if the PPAs have not obtained final approval; that is ratification by Parliament of Ghana and in most cases the execution of a GCSA/PCOA.
I challenge the Ministry of Energy to publish the list of PPAs that have been terminated and their contract terms as well as the methodology adopted to arrive at the $7billion savings. To ensure that we are on the same plane and understanding, I wish to walk Mr. Damoah through the procedure on tariff setting in Ghana.
Section 16 of the PURC Act 538 which deals with Guidelines for Fixing Rates states;
1. No public utility shall fix any rate to be charged for any service provided by it unless the rate is in accordance with guidelines provided by the Commission.
2. The Commission shall prepare and provide to public utilities guidelines on levels of rates that may be charged by the public utilities for the services provided From the foregoing, I should be obvious to Mr. Damoah that it is only the PURC that has the mandate to approve PPAs, and therefore preposterous and infantile for him to have reached to erroneous and spurious conclusion came to.
Ghana and the Ministry of Energy in particular should be concerned and worried about such discredited and naive personalities, who lack professionalism and basic ethical standards of managing communications at the Ministry speaking on behalf of an important infrastructure ministry like the Ministry of Energy.
Without any fear of doubt, I have come to the conclusion that the Ministry of Energy has surely put a square peg in the person of Mr. Damoah in a round hole. Let me assure Mr. Damoah that discerning Ghanaians will not fall for this utter rubbish and malicious disinformation, intended to cause harm and damage to his (Mr. Damoah’s) political opponents.
It is my hope that Mr. Damoah who recently claimed he was resigning following the dismissal of Mr Agyarko will learn the basic rudiments of Public Relations by cross checking his facts before rushing to make baseless, unsubstantiated and frivolous allegations against persons he perceives as being his opponents, whether political or otherwise.
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