Cancelling AMERI Deal Will Be Disservice to Ghana – Donkor

A former Minister for Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, has warned that investments into the Ghana’s economy will be greatly affected if the AMERI power deal is cancelled.

He said this in a Citi News interview following a meeting with the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament on Friday, about the role he played in ratifying the AMERI deal, which was passed by parliament in March 2015.

“The impact on future investment, if approvals by parliament can be rescinded, when a new government comes in with a new parliament because they have the numbers they rescind it, what will be the impact on Ghana’s investment climate?” he asked.

“Already, for developing countries, there is a political risk of investment, and therefore we pay a premium for investment because of perceived political risk. If we aggravate this by rescinding decisions properly approved, because one government is in power, and has numbers to push it through, it will be short-term and it will not be in the national interest, and in my opinion, it will be misleading, I think a rescission will be a disservice to Ghana,” he added.

The AMERI power deal, a Build, Own, Operate, and Transfer (BOOT) agreement, was signed between the Africa and Middle East Resources Investment Group, and the Government of Ghana on the 10th of February 2105, during the country’s severe energy crisis.

The contract was awarded by former President John Mahama to the UAE-based energy company.

As part of the agreement, the company was to provide Ghana with 300MW of energy to help improve the country’s energy situation.

After years of operation, the Adansi Asokwa Member of Parliament, K. T Hammond, who was the ranking member of the Energy Committee of Parliament when the deal with signed, filed an urgent motion in Parliament to have the deal rescinded.

According to him, this was because of fresh information he had received concerning the agreement which showed that the deal was fraudulent.

Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee is currently deliberating the urgent motion for a possible reversal of the deal.

We gave Ghana best deal; but gov’t can scrutinize – AMERI

Meanwhile, the Africa & Middle East Resources Investment Group LLC (AMERI), has stated that, its 2015 agreement with Ghana for the provision of a Power Plant in the heat of the country’s power crisis, offered the “best value for money” despite government findings that the $510 million deal was bloated by $150 million.

AMERI, in a statement following an appearance, before the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament on Friday, however, said the government had the right to review the deal if it felt it was being ripped off.