AMERI Deal Was Fraudulent – NPP Secretary
The Brong Ahafo Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Kofi Ofosu Boateng has labelled the Africa Middle East Resources Investment (AMERI) Group power badge deal with Ghana as “overpriced and lopsided” agreement.Describing the deal as fraudulent, the chief scribe of the NPP in the Brong Ahafo region said the AMERI deal which was signed to address the power crisis in 2015 could have been a better deal if “due diligence” was done.In his view, the agreement in its old form as signed under the erstwhile John Mahama government did not serve the interest of the country and therefore a renegotiation was the only alternative left.“The agreement is grossly unfair and presently as it stands it is not in the best interest of Ghana, hence the decision of the N.P.P’s government renegotiations.”The comment by Kofi Ofosu comes at the backdrop of criticisms from a number of groups and individuals following a re-negotiation of the AMERI deal by the government.Speaking in an interview with the media in Sunyani, he said government would assume ownership of the power plants after paying $339million which will end the Build Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOST).He argued that investigations conducted by the committee that was tasked to investigate the deal showed that the whole project was executed at a charge that was considerably lower than the agreement between the Government of Ghana and AMERI.According to him, instead of paying the original tariff of 14.5918 cents/KWh under the old AMERI deal, consumers will pay a new tariff of 11.7125 cents/KWh over the 15 year period.Touting the benefits of the reviewed deal, he said it will not only save the taxpayer but also shows a commitment by the President to protect the public purse.Credit: Kwame OsaheneCall our Editor on 0209391902 or click here and inform us via Whatsapp. You could equally email your stories or articles to info@ghanaxtra.com and we’ll surely put them online