Fix The Economy Now NDC, Don't Wait Till 2016

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Created on Thursday, 12 February 2015 00:00

Fix The Economy Now NDC, Don't Wait Till 2016

Hopeson Adorye, a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has expressed disappointment in the Mahama administration and the government’s failures to resolve the energy challenges in the country.

Addressing the issue in a statement available to Peacefmonline.com, Hopeson Adorye believed there’s no light at the end of the tunnel for Ghanaians under the current administration.

In his conviction, the Mahama-led government has over the years borrowed monies “rough rough” only to “chopped it nyafu nyafu and in the process neglected the power sector and killed our businesses, jobs, lives and endangered our kids' education by worsening the dumsor they themselves created needlessly.”

However, he stressed that “the energy crisis can be fixed” and so charged the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to “just get on with it and fix it and fix it now! Don't wait until 2016 to make it seem as if you have done Ghanaians a favour. Fix it now!”

Read full statement below:

PRESIDENT MAHAMA FIX THE ENERGY CRISIS NOW

I hear the NDC are asking the NPP to show how we would have solved the energy crisis. How annoying! Our answer is simple: there would not have been any crisis if we were in power because we left office with comprehensive plans on how to solve the crisis for good!

Mind you, this is the longest power crisis ever that Ghanaians have faced; it started in 2010, eased a bit in 2011 and has been nonstop since, getting worse year after year.

What is even annoying is that this is all happening at a time when we have had the highest inflow of resources to solve national problems. John Mahama believes "to promise" is just another word of "to deliver". He simply doesn't care! We are in this crisis because of bad leadership. That's all! Pure and simple!

The job is too big for him. Governments are elected to solve problems. What John Mahama and his NDC have done since 2009 is to add and add to our problems.

Please remind Ghanaians of the promise he gave to barbers and seamstresses etc in 2012: That he would give them electricity to grow their small businesses. Has he delivere? Can you trust him? The sad thing is that he can fix it if he wants. If he can give us power to watch football why can't he give us power to work and earn an income? Ebe soccer we go chop?!?

If he had spent our money wisely we would not be in this problem. Investors are desperate to come to Ghana and give us electricity because they know Ghanaians are prepared to pay for reliable power supply. But investors are worried about the cedi, inflation, interest rates and government's inability to pay them when we are spending money foolishly on GYEEDA, SUBAH, SADA and sole sourcing of projects at inflated costs. We should not be in this mess.

The late Baah Wiredu had already secured funding for the construction of several mini dams, the contract for the gas plant was already in place at $600m. Bui was on its way. Incentives for investors in solar energy were being offered. NPP was getting Ghana ready for a take off.

NPP had even secured funding from Brazil for the mini hydro dams, the same way we had secured funding for the rural electrification that NDC did from 2009. The agreement for the mini dams was between GOG and Pato Power Company of Brazil. The total cost was $900 million and it was to give the country 240 megawatts of extravpower.

But Vice President Mahama had other plans. When NDC won he went to Brazil to change the agreement and diverted the money for the construction of the Eastern corridor roads and other non-energy projects. The Atuobo Gas project was delayed for 4 years and cost us $1.2 billion! Over $500m more! NDC could have used that half a billion dollars to supply crude oil to give us light.

How can NDC now turn around and ask us about NPP plans for power??? If they had used just $7bn of the $27bn loans they borrowed recklessly on power generation we would have had about an extra 2300 megawatts of a mixed supply of energy without sweat by now! Jobs would have been created.

Instead they borrowed money rough rough and chopped it nyafu nyafu and in the process neglected the power sector and killed our businesses, jobs, lives and endangered our kids' education by worsening the dumsor they themselves created needlessly.

The energy crisis can be fixed. NDC should just get on with it and fix it and fix it now! Don't wait until 2016 to make it seem as if you have done Ghanaians a favour. Fix it now!

........Signed. .............

Hopeson Adorye

Member, NPP Communication Team )

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com