The Ministry of Power has denied media reports suggesting that the AMERI power deal was signed with a Norwegian fraudster\u00a0at an inflated cost of $510 million.<\/p>\n
Media reports\u00a0over the weekend alleged that Ghana’s Minister of Power, Kwabena Donkor had signed the\u00a0deal with a Norwegian fraudster , Umar Farooq Zahoor at the purported cost.<\/p>\n
But the Ministry, in a statement, described the publication as\u00a0\u201cfalse, misleading and a gross misrepresentation of the facts\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Ministry clarified that the”Government of Ghana has not entered into any agreement with Umar Farooq Zahoor.”<\/p>\n
It noted that “the Government of Ghana has an agreement with AMERI Energy,” adding that \u00a0“the Chairman of AMERI Energy is Sheikh Mohamed AL Maktoum who signed the agreement for his firm. Umar Farooq signed as a witness for him.”<\/p>\n
The Ministry also\u00a0indicated\u00a0that the agreement with AMERI is a “Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) agreement and not an outright purchase of generating plants.”<\/p>\n
It further stated that the Government of Ghana “has not made any payments to AMERI and will not be making any payments for the cost of the equipment.”<\/p>\n
“Per the agreement with AMERI, the Government of Ghana through the Volta River Authority (VRA) will only make payments to Ameri for power produced and supplied to the VRA just like any other Independent Power Producer (IPP).”<\/p>\n
Below is the full statement<\/strong><\/p>\n The Ministry of Power has noted publications in sections of the media attributed to a Norwegian newspaper, VG. The thrust of these publications is that: ISSUE OF COST OF PLANT ISSUE OF DUE DILIGENCE ON AMERI ENERGY POWER PLANT<\/strong> CONCLUSION<\/strong> Dr. Kwabena DONKOR –<\/p>\n By: citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Ministry of Power has denied media reports suggesting that the AMERI power deal was signed with a Norwegian fraudster\u00a0at an inflated cost of $510 million. Media reports\u00a0over the weekend alleged that Ghana’s Minister of Power, Kwabena Donkor had signed the\u00a0deal with a Norwegian fraudster , Umar Farooq Zahoor at the purported cost. But the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":74503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[43,38],"yoast_head":"\n
\n1. The Ministry of Power representing Government entered into an arrangement to secure a 250MW power plant with a company of dubious background.
\n2. That the transaction amount of $510 million is inflated compared to other options.
\nThe Ministry wishes to state that these publications are false, misleading and a gross misrepresentation of the facts. For the avoidance of doubt, the Ministry of Power wishes to clarify the matter as follows:<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 The Ministry wishes to state that the agreement with AMERI is a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) agreement and not an outright purchase of generating plants.
\n\u2022 The Government of Ghana has not made ANY PAYMENTS to AMERI and will not be making any payments for the cost of the equipment.
\n\u2022 Per the agreement with AMERI, the Government of Ghana through the Volta River Authority (VRA) will only make payments to Ameri for power produced and supplied to the VRA just like any other Independent Power Producer (IPP).
\n\u2022 Also, per the agreement, Government was required to provide a standby Letter of Credit (LC) for an amount of US$51 million, which LC has been raised.
\n\u2022 Ghana will however assume eventual ownership of the equipment after five (5) years of production and sale of the power to the VRA.
\n\u2022 It must also be explained that the quoted price of $220 million in the Norwegian story for outright purchase of similar turbines is exclusive of all other costs such as auxiliaries, balance of plant, civil works, sub-station, installation of equipment, cost of financing, operation and maintenance etc.
\n\u2022 Under the agreement with AMERI Energy, the cost of all these auxiliary works is being borne by AMERI Energy.
\n\u2022 From the foregoing, it is false to claim that the Government of Ghana signed a $510 million agreement for the plant, when it should have been $220 million.
\n\u2022 On claims that the manufacturers of the plant, GE, could have been contacted to negotiate a direct purchase, the Ministry wishes to state that an earlier offer from GE Consortium to the VRA for similar equipment on rental basis proved to be far more expensive and was therefore rejected by the VRA.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 The Government of Ghana has not entered into any agreement with Umar Farooq Zahoor. The Government of Ghana has an agreement with AMERI Energy.
\n\u2022 The Chairman of AMERI Energy is Sheikh Mohamed AL Maktoum who signed the agreement for his firm. Umar Farooq signed as a witness for him.
\n\u2022 The Bank of Ghana before establishing the Standby LC conducted its own due diligence on AMERI Energy.
\n\u2022 The American firm, JP Morgan also independently conducted its own due diligence before confirming the Standby LC for the project.
\n\u2022 Government of Ghana represented by the Ministry of Power and the Attorney General\u2019s Department also conducted due diligence on AMERI Energy and reviewed strenuously the project agreement before submitting to Parliament.
\n\u2022 Parliament, upon receipt of relevant documentation on the project and the agreement, also scrutinized and reviewed the agreement before approving it at the Committee Level unanimously and later by the House.<\/p>\n
\nThe Ministry of Power will continue to work assiduously to end the current power sector challenges. In doing so we expect all stakeholders to commit to the noble path of resolving this national challenge instead of throwing in misleading claims programmed to disrupt and derail its efforts.
\nWe wish to reiterate that as part of efforts to resolve the current load shedding exercise, the following are underway:
\n\u2022 225MW Karpower Barge is ramping up generation to attain the contracted generation capacity.
\n\u2022 The 250MW AMERI Plant is undergoing commissioning.
\n\u2022 The first unit of the 220MW Kpone Thermal Plant is also undergoing commissioning.
\n\u2022 The 12OMW TICO Steam Expansion has been completed.
\n\u2022 The first part of 120MW of the 360MW Sunon Asogli Plant is near completion.<\/p>\n
\nMINISTER FOR POWER
\nACCRA
\nDecember 14, 2015<\/span><\/span>.Type a message<\/p>\n