Former Minister for Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, has said Ghana negotiated a bad deal under the Ghana Power Compact that led to the selection of a concessionaire for the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
Meralco Consortium, a Philippines based power company, has been selected by the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) to manage ECG.
Though government is yet to approve the deal, one of the bidders, BXC Consortium, is in court to halt the final bidding process, contesting a conflict of interest issue raised against it by MIDA.
Speaking to Accra based GH ONE TV, the former Power Minister said Ghana has been bullied by the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA).
“We have negotiated poorly. We have allowed the Millennium Development Corporation to bully the Government of Ghana and there have been times where even as a Minister, the Millennium Development Corporation will not listen to you, supported by its Ghanaian appendage of MIDA because they claimed they report to the office of the President.”
The Compact II
President Nana Addo in 2017 announced that Ghana had renegotiated the deal to control 51 percent of the Power Compact II with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
Under the Power Compact, six projects will be implemented to address the root causes of the unavailability and unreliability of power in Ghana.
The project include ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, NEDCo Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, Regulatory Strengthening and Capacity Building Project, and Access Project.
The rest are Power Generation Sector Improvement Project and Energy Efficiency, and Demand Side Management Project.
Ghana to get over 498m dollars
Ghana signed the Power Compact with the United States of America acting through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent United States government agency, on the sidelines of the US Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC on August 5, 2014.
The Ghana Power Compact would provide Ghana with a grant sum of four hundred and ninety-eight million, two hundred thousand United States Dollars (US$498,200,000) to improve the performance of Ghana’s power sector, unlock the country’s economic potential, create jobs, and reduce poverty.
About US$350 million of the grant is being invested in ECG to make the country’s power distributor operationally and financially more efficient.
The Compact is being implemented by the Government of Ghana through the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA).
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