An Accra High Court will today [Wednesday] hear an interlocutory injunction case filed against the government on its plans to cede part of the operations of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to a private company.
A group known as the Coalition against the concession of ECG, contends that the proposed plan by government is not in the best interest of the nation and must not be allowed to go through.
[contextly_sidebar id=”pbB9S093iDjlAAwhBoJPc2sufXlEOFJE”]Workers of ECG have been protesting against the deal, which is under Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Power Compact II, claiming it would lead to massive lay-offs and also not in the interest of Ghana.
But the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) had assured that the deal will not affect jobs.
Other suit involving compact
A member of the opposition New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) communications team, Saaka Salia sued MiDA, arguing that it is not fit to participate as an adviser in the concession arrangement for the ECG because its conduct breached Ghana’s laws after it authored and circulated a draft tariff methodology.
Joined to the suit was the PURC, the Attorney General’s office, and Energy Commission. Mr. Salia argued that MiDA breached Ghana’s laws after it authored and circulated a draft tariff methodology.
Mr. Salia’s writ asserted that, the PURC, not MiDA is the body with exclusive mandate by law to provide guidelines for determining tariffs and levels of tariffs, and in doing so in the manner prescribed by Act 538.
Ghanaian petitions US gov’t
A Ghanaian citizen, Richard Asante Yeboah earlier petitioned the US government over some aspects of the ECG privatisation deal.
Mr. Asante Yeboah told Citi News the deal is not in the interest of Ghana and must be reviewed. He explained that the petition sough “to indicate to them and also make it clear to these individuals that there ought to be a full scale investigation into the whole process leading into this ECG concession arrangement.”
About the Compact
Ghana and the United States have signed an agreement for the release of the $498,200,000 grant meant to improve power distribution in the country under the second compact of the Millennium Challenge Account.
Under this compact, which will last for five years, Ghana has agreed to give up the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), for a private company in the hope of bringing efficiency in ECG’s operations.
This compact is the largest U.S. Government transaction to date, under Power Africa, and is expected to serve as an anchor for increased American engagement in Ghana.
The Ghana Power Compact programme consists of 6 major projects each, with a set of activities aimed at contributing to support the transformation of Ghana’s power sector.
These six projects are ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround (EFOT) Project, Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) Financial Turnaround Project, Access Project, Regulatory Strengthening and Capacity Building project, Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management Project, and the Power Generation and Improvement Project.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana