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Power: Bawumia’s claim of excess power false – Minority
The Minority in Parliament has described as false the claim by the Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia that Ghana has excess capacity.
A statement issued by the Minority Caucus following the almost nationwide power cut on Saturday, the minority stated that the nation is on the verge of facing an imminent power outages also known as ‘dumsor.’
“The baseless and unfounded allegations by the NPP Government that, Ghana has excess electricity generation capacity, which the country does not need, leading to the payment of about GHC 17 billion in excess capacity bills, has been displaced with available facts as contained in the recently released 2022 electricity supply plan for Ghana.
“Sadly, these contrived and concocted narratives led by no less a person than the Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia against the person of former President Mahama was therefore as needless as they are mischievous and propaganda-laden,” the Ranking Member on Mines and Energy Committee, John Abdulai Jinapor disclosed.
Below is the full statement from the Minority
Press Release
For Immediate Release
09/05/2022
NPP FALSE CLAIMS ON EXCESS CAPACITY DISPLACED AS THE COUNTRY FACES EMINENT DUMSOR
The baseless and unfounded allegations by the NPP Government that, Ghana has excess electricity generation capacity, which the country does not need, leading to the payment of about GHC 17 billion in excess capacity bills, has been displaced with available facts as contained in the recently released 2022 electricity supply plan for Ghana. Sadly, these contrived and concocted narratives led by no less a person than the Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia against the person of former President Mahama was therefore as needless as they are mischievous and propaganda-laden.
The 2022 publication authored by a technical team known as “The Power Planning Technical Committee (PPTC)” inaugurated in 2020 by the Hon. Minister of Energy to among others examine, plan, and make recommendations for the Ghana Power System as per the requirement in Section-7 of the National Electricity Grid Code and Section 2 (2)(c) of the Energy Commission Act 1997 (ACT 541) makes very interesting conclusions.
Amongst others, the report makes an astonishing but factual revelation that the Nation’s existing generating capacity will not be adequate to serve the projected demand with the required 18% reserve margin.
It will be recalled that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia at a recently held Tescon training and orientation conference at Kasoa made very wild and unsubstantiated claims on a so called GHC 17 billion payment by the state arising from what he described as excess capacity bills.
The minority has since described this statement as false and baseless and has further challenged the Vice President and the NPP Government to produce the details on such payments to substantiate this fictitious claim. It will interest Ghanaians to know that till date no such information has been made available.
The current information as contained in the 2022 Electricity Supply Plan clearly points to a deceptive and dishonest narrative by the current NPP Government on the cause of the current economic hardship that the nation is experiencing.
For the avoidance of doubt, the following conclusions are drawn from the 2022 Electricity Supply Plan as captured in pages (vi)-(viii) of the report:
- An estimated amount of MMUSD 872.8 will be required to purchase Natural Gas to run the thermal plants (.i.e. a monthly average of MUSD 72.74).
- The provision for LCO, diesel and HFO during the gas outage period leads to a total of US$ 988 Million required for fuel purchase in 2022.
- Relocation of the 250 MW Ameri Power Plant from Takoradi to Kumasi reduces transmission system losses significantly. It also improves the voltage regulation in Kumasi & its environs and aids export.
- The existing generating capacities will not be adequate to serve the projected demand with 18% reserve margin for any of the planning years.
- The timely completion of the committed projects barely has adequate generation up to 2024.
- Additional generation capacity will be needed from 2023, specifically, 184 MW, 187 MW, 114 MW and 337 MW additional generation capacity will be needed in 2023, 2024, 2026, and 2027, respectively.
-RECOMMENDATIONS-
Based on the above conclusions, the following are some of the key recommendations made:
- Due to the growing electricity demand in Ghana, there is an urgent need to make arrangements to increase gas supply volumes for more Thermal generation. It is also very important to make necessary investments towards an improved gas supply reliability owing to the increasing dependency on natural gas for power generation.
- Efforts should be expedited to complete the relocation of the 250 MW Ameri Power Plant to Kumasi by September 2022 to create a new generation enclave in Kumasi, among others.
It is equally revealing from the report that the claim that Ghana has excess Gas leading to capacity payments are false. Indeed, the report rather recommends that efforts are made to increase available Gas supply. So, the Ameri plant was not bad and needless after all, as the NPP wanted us to believe.
Thank you.
Hon. John Abdulai Jinapor (MP)
Ranking Member
(Mines and Energy Committee)
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
More more more
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
