Minister of Ernergy, Matthew Opoku Prempeh
The government has insisted that, despite challenges in round-the-clock supply of power across the country, it has no intention of embarking on a nationwide load shedding.
It has also dismissed any claims that it is rationing power and, hence, the erratic situation currently ongoing in parts of Accra and throughout the country.
It has denied, too, that the situation has been occasioned by lack of funds readily available to fix the situation.
The assurance comes against the background of heated accusation about government’s inability to manage power reasonably for both domestic and industrial users.
Particularly from the Minority in Parliament, the charge has been scathing.
Indeed, the Ranking Member on Energy and Mines in Parliament, John Abu Jinapor, on Wednesday attributed the current power outages to what he described as financial challenges, demanding that government ensures that the energy sector SOEs publish details of their financial statements as well as debts owed them on time in feeding the public and stakeholders as a matter of national duty.
However, an official statement from the Ministry dated April 29, 2021 said, “despite the recent power outages, systematic plans have been instituted by government and partners like the Millennium Challenge Account to fix the challenge in the energy sector.
In another development, the Energy Commission has denied claims by the same Minority that as a result of unavailable funds, the government has been unable to fix energy challenges.
The Minority, it claimed, had all the argument wrong and that never has the Commission’s budget been slashed by government to the extent of paralysing its efforts at ensuring that the Ministry delivers on its mandate.
Reacting, Rev. Ing. Oscar Amonoo-Neizer, Executive Secretary at the Commission, said it is not true that government has slashed its budget by more than half, rendering them ineffective in carrying out their duties.
He explained that, although it had its budget capped by 34 percent between May 2017 to 2018, it has however been restored since January 2019.
John Abu Jinapor had said the slash is worrying, considering the challenges facing the energy sector.
“Even more disturbing is the fact that the Energy Commission which is the technical regulator of the sector has seen its budget slashed by more than half on account of the Capping and Realignment Act rendering the commission ineffective,” he added.
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