The Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Mahama, clashed with the former Deputy Minister of Energy, John Jinapor, over Ghana’s energy sector debts on live TV.

They were arguing about agreements in the energy sector signed by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government and the John Dramani Mahama administration which is believed to be the cause of the unsustainable debts in the sector, on JoyNew's News File programme on July 10, 2023.

John Jinapor was making the point that both governments have signed agreements where they have to pay for excuse capacity (take or pay agreements) but the current Nana Addo government is making it look like the agreements signed under Mahama were bad.

He said that even though the current government also castigates Mahama’s agreements, they have not amended them even though they could and have even extended some of them.

“… they (the current government) told us they had negotiated these contracts as of 2019. Go and read the 2019-2020 budget, the finance minister even reported savings of billions of cedis from these so-called negotiations.

“Which of them have they negotiated so far? ASPA has expired. You had the option not to engage them because the contract had elapsed; they did not only extend it but in the contract, they have signed there are elements of take or pay (paying for excess capacity),” he said.

But Malik Mahama accused Jinapor of politicising the issues of Ghana’s energy sector agreement which he said is not the best.

He argued that the agreement signed under the Akufo-Addo government are way better than that of Mahama.

“I do agree there is a 40 per cent take or pay in there but you can’t compare 100 per cent take or pay to 40 per cent take or pay. They are not the same,” he said.

The debt, however, turned sour when the ECG boss used words that angered the former deputy energy minister.

“This intellectual dishonesty must stop at some point for us to find a solution,” Samuel Mahama said.

Jinapor was not happy with the comment passed by Mahama and threatened to leave the show.

BAI/OGB

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