Former Minister of Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, has condemned as unfortunate the comments made by World Bank Country Director, Pierre Frank Laporte, in which it is implied that the former Mahama administration squandered money by signing heavy Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).
Laporte's comments suggest that the former Mahama administration spent money on burdensome power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Blaming Mahama for Ghana’s energy debt unfortunate – Kwabena Donkor
According to Mr. Laporte, the Mahama administration was partially to blame for Ghana's current economic predicament because of the power purchase agreements that were signed under a take-or-pay deal. These agreements forced Ghana to pay for extra electricity that it did not require.
In response, Dr. Donkor questioned why the World Bank Country Director would blame the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which was in power at the time, given that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been in power for almost 7 years, on Bernard Avle's Point of View program on Citi TV.
“The current Energy Minister, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, would tell you that on the NDC's side, a number of us were discreetly working together as a team, as a country, to find a solution out of our energy predicament.
This is something that Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh will tell you. And then this person [Pierre Frank Laporte] comes in, wearing the mantle of the World Bank but acting as a partisan in order to put a wrench into the works by playing the blame game.
Dr. Kwabena Donkor continued by saying, “NPP has been in power for at least 6 years into the 7th year, and it is unfortunate to still blame the previous administration or the PPAs for all of the challenges, especially when relating it to the fact that Ghana is in its current debt situation due to the actions of Independent Power Producers (IPPs).”
The previous Energy Minister accused the current Country Director of the World Bank of seeking political allies in Ghana, which is the reason for his claims.
Dr. Kwabena Donkor asserted, “This is a politician who needs friends in the neighborhood for his political ambitions.” “This is a politician who needs friends in the neighborhood.”
Dr. Kwabena Donkor said that it is impossible to get the most for one's money when things are done in an emergency situation because of the time constraints involved.
“Dr. Kwabena Donkor [Laporte] argued that we had signed very pricey PPAs, but I would say—and a PWC value for money review has confirmed this—that the Ameri Power Plant is still the cheapest thermal plant in Ghana when levelized over the course of 20 years.
“When you have to do things under conditions of emergency, anywhere in the world, you will often not get the best value for your money,” Dr. Kwabena Donkor noted.
According to him, the biggest contributing element to the enormous debt that is ailing the energy sector is the currency rate's recent depreciation.
