A former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, had suggested that the government was trying to usurp the mandate of the  (PURC), by announcing an average reduction of between 13 and 21 percent in electricity tariffs for residential and industrial consumers.

[contextly_sidebar id=”68n5y9mRnzPMBp4JAcF5ihJmTPhUFofZ”]According to him, the announcement of the proposal to the PURC by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, whilst reading the 2018 budget statement on the floor of Parliament, put undue pressure on the PURC to approve it.

However, the Energy Minister, speaking to some journalists, including Citi News‘ Duke Mensah Opoku, rejected those assertions, stating that it would have been irresponsible of government not to request the reduction in the interest of Ghanaians.

“We have made recommendations to the PURC seeking their approval, so I don’t understand the hullabaloo. If we as a government, see benefits that could accrue and inure to the benefit of our citizens, it would be irresponsible on our part not to go to PURC for them to approve those benefits so that our citizens can get cheaper electricity. I don’t see anything wrong with it. We have not declared a reduction. We have gone to PURC to seek their approval, but there’s nothing wrong with us telling the nation what we have done,” Boakye Agyarko said.

He added that, the PURC ultimately had the mandate to determine whether the request from government had any merit, and would only approve it if they believe it was appropriate for them to do so.

He thus brushed aside the claims that they were exerting pressure on PURC into approving the tariff reduction, stating that it would have been unwise to go to the Commission without suggesting a rate of decrease.

“It’s up to the PURC to approve it or not. You send things to PURC to examine and review. We’ve not told PURC what to do, we’ve made a request. It’s semantics, if we have a problem with the English language, let us say so. All we have done is send a request to PURC for their examination and approval. Should we have gone to PURC and just said reduce the tariffs? It would have been grossly irresponsible to go to PURC without numbers and ask them to approve it,” he said.

‘Gov’t’s review of tariff-setting methodology  ‘extremely inappropriate’ 

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, stated that the government had revised the tariff-setting methodology and the cost structure for power production.

He added that a recommendation would be made to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission in this regard, which will bring a little more relief to businesses and domestic users of electricity.

However, in an interview with Citi News, Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, described this move by government as “extremely inappropriate,” adding that the government cannot make a recommendation to the PURC on possible cuts in utility costs as the Commission had the sole mandate of setting the tariffs.

“The idea that government should recommend specific numbers for tariffs is extremely inappropriate. Since 1997, we’ve had the PURC whose job it is to determine the methodology and the applicable rates, and also undertake three-monthly reviews of the tariffs in line with the changing circumstances such as price of fuel and the types of fuel mix that are being used by various generators, and the tariffs that are paid to the various generators. That is the sole purview of the PURC, and absolutely no government has got any right to recommend, let alone be specific about what reductions it should apply,” he said.

–

By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nothing wrong with asking PURC for tariff reduction – Agyarko appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the Energy Minister’s call might have been influenced by orders from senior figures in government.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Wrq3AACiCFeDvbKEq8tBCgumfkVJZkdv”]A BNI and National Security report cleared the current CEO of BOST of any wrongdoing in the matter, and those comments were echoed by the Boakye Agyarko at a press conference.

This conclusion was made before the Committee set up to investigate the matter had commenced their probe.

There had been calls from the Minority for the current MD to step aside for investigations to proceed without external influence.

But the Energy Minister stated at the press conference that “on the basis of previous practice, there was no wrongdoing at BOST on the sale of the 5 million litres of contaminated products.”

This was in reference to the reports which revealed that 38 unlicensed companies had also purchased contaminated fuel from 2014 to 2016, while the NDC were in power.

However, Edward Bawa, who is also a member of the Energy Committee in Parliament, believes that the Energy Minister had been forced to announce the innocence of the BOST MD despite the fact that he had entrusted the 8-member Committee with the mandate to investigate the matter:

Speaking on Citi FM‘s news analysis programme, The Big Issue the MP said: “Listening to the voice of the Minister and knowing who he is, I know he made the announcement with a lot of reluctance. [He made it] under duress. Obviously, it’s not a junior official who’ll put pressure on him to make the decision. I feel that the man believe in the process he had put in place. He believed in the fact that the Committee he had set up had the capacity to unravel the mystery surrounding this whole transaction.”

“The Minister of Energy set up a Committee to investigate the matter based on institutional representation. I was one of the people who commented the setup of the Committee. It had someone from TOR, people from Ghana Standards Board because of standards requirements the BDCs, Civil Society and the BNI. We felt the composition of the Committee was good.”

According to him, it was curious that the BNI, which was supposed to have had a member on the Committee, conducted separate investigation and came out with a report before the Committee had even started work.

“The BNI was supposed to have been represented on the Committee then suddenly they said it had come out with its own findings. It looks like the whole idea of the BNI report was a one-item term of reference to exonerate the [Bost MD]. There were a lot of things that went on at BOST.”

The Minister of Energy set up a Committee to investigate the matter based on institutional representation. I was one of the people who commended the setup of the Committee. It had someone from TOR, people from Ghana Standards Board because of standards requirements the BDCs, Civil Society and the BNI. We felt the composition of the Committee was good.

Edward Bawa also denied suggestions that similar incidents had happened under the NDC, stating that there was only on istance of contamination of fuel under NDC which was dealt with promptly and properly by BOST.

“The last time there was contamination at BOST until January 18, was in December 24, 2013. The quantity was 200, 000 litres. BOST treated the product and sold it at market value,” he said.

The BNI report, however, has been criticised by several observer groups including policy think tank IMANI Africa and anti-corruption group Occupy Ghana, who described it as deficient.

Think-tank CDD have also called for fresh, external investigations into the issue

–

By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Boakye Agyarko exonerated BOST MD ‘under duress’ – MP appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

During the almost 4-hour session of probing and explanations, Mr Agyarko made 6 key statements on his thoughts and plans for the energy sector in the country.

The quotes are represented in the infographic below:

–

By: Mawuli Tsikata/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @MawuliTsikata

The post Six key things Boakye Agyarko said at his vetting [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.