Sack Energy Minister over AMERI deal – VRA Staff

The Senior Staff of the Association of the Volta River Authority (VRA) is calling for the immediate dismissal of the Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, for misleading President Akufo-Addo on the new arrangement on the AMERI power deal.

The Senior Staff Association and the Public Services Workers Union at the VRA have earlier said the new deal “will bring more hardship to the good people of our dear country- Ghana”.

Pressure has mounted on President Akufo-Addo to either sack the Energy Minister or he resigns honorably ever since the news broke that President Akufo-Addo was misled in signing the new AMERI deal agreement.

Under the new agreement, a new company, Mytilineous International Trading Company, will take over the management of the AMERI power plant for 15 years.

The new company has offered to pay AMERI an amount of $52,160,560, with the government paying the remaining $39 million to the Dubai-based AMERI Energy to wash its hands off the deal entirely.

The agreement covering the new deal was laid before Parliament for approval.

But the staff contends that Ghana had just less than three years left to assume control of the plant under the old deal.

“In less than two and half years the AMERI plant would become a free asset to the nation under the Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) arrangement, and therefore there is no need for another arrangement that would extend ownership to any other third party interest”, the workers argued in a statement.

The John Mahama administration in 2015 signed a contract with Africa and Middle East Resources Investment Group (AMERI) Energy, to rent the 300MW of emergency power from AMERI.

But according to the NPP administration, it found out that the government had been shortchanged by AMERI as they presented an overpriced budget, and were overpaid by $150 million.

The Senior Staff of the Association of the VRA declared their opposition to the new arrangement on the AMERI power deal when it was laid before Parliament.

Speaking at a press conference held in Accra on Monday, the Chairman of the Association, Cephas Duse said “we have refused to support the new deal, the new proposal and we have come to this conclusion that, we think that by the curry tail, the Energy Minister has exhibited financial recklessness with intent to assist a foreign company milk the state”.

He said “we therefore called on him to honorably resign immediately and save the government and this nation from further disgrace and embarrassment.

“We called on the President to sack him if he fails to resign”, he added.

Latest news from Prime News Ghana