Kwadwo Poku, the Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Policies and Research (INSTEPR), says he would have dismissed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) if he were the president.
He criticised the GNPC Boss for not taking action to prevent the power outages despite being informed by the West Africa Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAGPCo) about the potential shutdown of its pipelines due to unsettled debts.
His criticism follows recent power outages in parts of the country reigniting the dreaded memories of “Dumsor,” the persistent power outages that plagued the country in 2015.
In an interview, he said “I have a problem with GNPC. GNPC is our national oil company. They have money. For nothing at all they have the JOHL money. The 7% Anadarko shares that we bought. That account receives about $ 70 million every lifting.
“So as we speak, they have paid back the $164 million loan that the Ministry of Finance gave to GNPC and they have about $364 million sitting in their account. PIAC reported it in their report. So GNPC is sitting on money.”
“So the president for me should look at some of these CEOs who are not doing what they are supposed to do. And every time we have been in darkness, the CEO of GNPC is not in the country. In October he wasn’t in the country. This one he wasn’t in the country. And I am saying it publicly and challenging him to come out and prove otherwise.
“If somebody sent you a letter saying that I am going to shut my pipeline and you don’t attend to it and the pipeline gets shut If I am the president I will sack you. The CEOs and the state-owned enterprises should be up and doing.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Energy Minister Andrew Egyapa Mercer has announced that the challenges leading to recent power outages in the country have been completely resolved.
He assured Ghanaians that there would be no more intermittent power outages, commonly referred to as ‘Dumsor’.
