Retired diplomat, K.B. Asante has charged government to be bold and tell Ghanaians the truth about its inability to settle debts it owes the country’s gas suppliers.
The truth if told will give government the opportunity to demand an increase in electricity tariffs in order to settle the debt.
Students need the light to study and businesses need power to survive, he stressed.
Mr. Asante made this remark when he delivered a lecture at the final section of the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Lecture series at the University of Cape Coast in the Central Region.
The government “should not be afraid of getting the people to understand and support the actions of the administration through bold information and sometimes modified to suit the people’s preparedness to accept.
“But above all it should be truthful and if we have not got the mandate to get the money to pay for the oil or gas to generate electricity, we should be bold enough to say it and ask the people of Ghana to pay more for the electricity they use and not to use it except when necessary”, he added.
Meanwhile, the West Africa Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) has deferred the decision to cut gas supplies to Ghana, pending outcome of negotiations between government and Nigeria Gas Association (N-Gas).
Corporate Affairs Director for WAPCo, Harriet Wereko-Brobbey told Joy News Friday, the company received “verbal information last night” from N-GAs to continue gas supplies to Ghana.
“Gas is flowing through the pipeline as we speak”, she said Friday morning.
Information available to Joy News indicates that government has settled part of its debt to WAPCo and N-GAs following the first round of talks.
The negotiations will continue, but the payment buys Ghana some time to conclude negotiations to curtail the cut in gas supply from Nigeria.
Source:myjoyonline.com
