Plans by the Akufo-Addo government to enlist the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) on the Ghana Stock Exchange means the government wishes to sell such state bodies, Isaac Adongo, Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central, has said.
According to him, the desire to sell these state assets is a stab in the back of Ghanaians who voted for the NPP following its campaign promise in the run-up to the 2016 polls not to divest state-owned firms.
President Nana Akufo-Addo on Tuesday 21 February mentioned in his maiden State of the Nation Address to parliament that the possibility of listing state power producer Volta River Authority (VRA) and GRIDCo on the Exchange is to be explored as part of measures towards fixing the energy sector and clearing its “heavy indebtedness”.
Additionally, the president said his government had begun to develop a national electricity master plan, which will also explore the benefits of listing VRA and GRIDCo on the Stock Exchange.
According to him, his predecessor John Mahama left behind a heavily indebted energy sector.
“The attempts by the previous government to resolve the ‘dumsor’ crisis have led to a gargantuan debt overhang in the sector,” Nana Akufo-Addo said.
“We have inherited a heavily indebted energy sector, with the net debt reaching $2.4 billion as of December 2016,” the president said, adding: “I have to point out the alarming fact that $800 million of this debt is owed to local banks, which threatens their stability.”
“Huge indebtedness of the energy sector constitutes the single major hurdle to Ghanaians enjoying reliable and affordable electricity supply
“The cost of energy destroys businesses large and small. It destroys jobs. It compounds poverty. The current state of the energy situation in our country is unsatisfactory,” he said.
“My government will enforce the procurement law. We will insist on open and competitive bidding for power capacity procurement.”
However, speaking in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom, on Accra100.5FM on Thursday February 23, Mr Adongo said: The enlistment of GRIDCo and VRA onto the GSE means the government has sold these state assets. This is not a good decision because we as a country are selling off our properties.
“We recall that this same party, the NPP, when in government under President Kufuor, sold then Ghana Telecom to Vodafone. They have a strong tendency to sell state assets, forgetting that future generations will need to benefit from these assets. This is not what the people of Ghana voted for.”
But the MP for Manso Edubia, Yaw Frimpong Addo, said: “The decision to list the companies on the GSE is the best because of the expected benefits.
“When we talk of a party that has too much taste for selling off state properties without getting value for money, it is the NDC. Their track record in the sale of government properties is there for everybody to see and so kindly ignore what my colleague on the other side is saying.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
