AMERI DEAL: Apologize to NDC for unfair criticism – Prof Marfo to NPP

Provost of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Prof Charles Ofosu Marfo has advised the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to render an unqualified apology to some personalities in the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) government led by President John Mahama for their unfair criticism of the Africa and Middle East Resource Investment (AMERI) thermal power plant deal.

Prof Marfo argued that the NPP’s assertions in 2015, when the then Government signed the deal, that there were acts of corruption surrounding the US$510 million on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) contract have now been shown to be untrue and the NPP ought to do the honourable thing by apologising.

He conceded that the deal may have been expensive given the exigencies at the time but allegations of corruptions and wastage cannot be sustained.

“In fact they [the NPP] should be apologizing to certain personalities in the party, NDC. They should be apologizing. You see, everyday, I say Politics is about numbers. And one way of getting people to your side is to apologize to them…They should apologize that it was a very good idea that they went for AMERI and their talk at the time of excess and all, they erred…So i agree that it was the style of negotiations…Maybe it was expensive but don’t say someone stole money,” he said on Oyerepa Radio recently.

The AMERI deal was signed by the Government of Ghana and the Africa and Middle East Resource Investment (AMERI) based in Dubai in the height of Ghana’s power crisis in 2015. The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the time excoriated the Government for getting into such an expensive deal.

They promised to renegotiate a better deal if they won power in December 2016. In 2018, the NPP Government renegotiated deal with AMERI was seen as far worse than the original deal. President Akufo-Addo relieved his Energy Minister over the botched renegotiated deal.

Recently, the AMERI power plant was moved from Aboadze in Takoradi to Anwomaso in Kumasi and renamed the Kumasi 1 Thermal Power Plant (K1TPP).