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Politics of Wednesday, 12 February 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Peter Amewu is a ‘goro boy’ for Aker Energy – NDC

Peter Amewu, energy minister play videoPeter Amewu, energy minister

Energy minister Peter Amewu is being used as an errand boy running the bidding of the Norwegian oil company, Aker, former power minister John Jinapor has alleged.

He made the claim while addressing participants at the National Democratic Congress’s dialogue series on the energy sector of the country.

According to Jinapor the Akufo-Addo-led administration has consistently claimed the renegotiated agreement reduced Ghana’s interests from 43 percent to 18 percent.

“The Minister (Peter Amewu) was given six months to renegotiate and increase our stake. To our surprise, he had not only refused to increase our stake he had further granted concessions. One of the concessions was that if Aker had a problem with securing licenses like environmental permits, our Minister is compelled to take that up, pursue that and get them all the options and permits that they need”.

“So, in effect, what our Minister of Energy is being turned into, is a “goro” boy for Aker to go round doing their bids,” Mr. Jinapor said.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) keeps raising concerns over the controversial Aker Energy deal.

In 2019, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, called for full disclosure on the government’s role in the energy deal.

The former President asked Ghanaians to query President Nana Akufo-Addo on why the government would renegotiate a contract to the disadvantage of Ghanaians when there was low risk to the government.

IMANI Africa also claimed that the country could be short-changed by some 30 billion dollars if the contractual agreements are not reviewed; a claim that the NPP has denied.