Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has maintained that challenges facing the country’s energy sector have been resolved insisting that ‘Dumsor’ is now relegated to Ghana’s historical records.
“I am happy to say that ‘dumsor’ is history, and we are determined to ensure that it remains that way,” Ken Ofori-Atta said at a mid-year budget review Monday afternoon.
According to the Finance Minister, a number of agreements entered into by the erstwhile Mahama administration to help solve the challenges in the country’s energy sector at the time lacked value for money.
“The NDC Government’s parting shot was an energy sector poison pill. But government is determined that the good people of Ghana will not drink this hemlock,” he stated.
Mr. Ofori-Atta announced, beginning August 1 this year, government will pay for energy and gas that the country actually consumes, contrary to previous arrangements which required the government of Ghana to pay for power produced and not necessarily power consumed.
He says the several take-or-pay contracts entered into by the NDC government have now been converted to take-and-pay contracts.
That aside, there remains a number of issues government needs to address in the energy sector.
According to the Finance Minister, these include electricity tariffs that do not cover the costs of non-portfolio Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), low collection, high technical and commercial losses, absence of a proper system for measuring and paying for the costs of power for street lighting, non-payment of utility bills by Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and a high level of net sector arrears of US$2.7 billion (GH¢14.04 billion) as of January 2019.