For the umpteenth time, it has emerged that Ghana’s Parliament passed an agreement committing Ghanaians to a foreign deal without proper scrutiny.
The latest revelation has to do with the Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) deal which was passed without what an opposition calls proper scrutiny.
Minority spokesperson on finance, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, made the revelations on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday during the second reading of the Millennium Development Authority Bill.
[contextly_sidebar id=”ohxXMJmh9CRNBc0HXjBdbaxVHzeQpq8i”]He pointed out that the House “passed the MCC; two compact in record time in this House without most of us paying attention to what is involved there.”
According to him, some “earth shaking decisions” were taken by Members of Parliament (MPs) without proper examination of the document.
“This is the document that we approved with some strict conditions. The whole process of passing this took three days from the Ministry, to the Executive to Parliament to pass such an important document because people thought we were going to get an amount $498 million free,” he revealed.
Dr. Akoto Osei further revealed that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which is acting as the transaction advisor is “advising the government on the type of “privatization” that Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) will go through whether it’s a lease for 25 years; it’s not very clear.”
He therefore chastised his colleague MPs who grant media interviews by stating that ECG will be sold saying, “I wonder if those members were in this House.”
He thus urged MPs who did not pay attention “to go back and read it.”
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is investing $498.2 million to support the transformation of Ghana’s power sector as well as encourage private investment.
The five-year Ghana Power Compact aims at creating a financially viable power sector that will meet the current and future needs of households and businesses—and ultimately help fight poverty across the country.
The government of Ghana has promised to implement reforms needed to transform the power sector and put it on a path to profitability and sustainability.
Click on link below to listen to Dr Anthony Akoto Osei’s full submission
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By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @ osamidan