Minority Leader in Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has said the compounding debt in the energy sector remains the biggest threat to the local economy.
Accusing the Akufo-Addo-led administration of creating the mess in the energy sector, Dr Ato Forson asserted that the government owes Independent Power Producers an amount of US$1.5 billion.
Speaking on the floor of parliament while debating the State of the Nation (SoNA) on Monday, March 11, 2024, he said, “The reality, Mr Speaker, is that this crippling indebtedness and the mess in the power sector, created by the Akufo Addo/Bawumia government, remains the biggest threat to the Ghanaian economy.”
“This Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government owes in excess of $1.5 billion to Independent Power Producers (IPPs),” the Minority Leader in Parliament added.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson also accused the government of deliberately not fixing the crisis for the next NDC government to inherit its huge indebtedness to the IPPs.
Independent power producers (IPPs), the electricity generation companies that control 50 per cent of the country’s generation mix, in March last year called on the government to urgently settle its indebtedness to them.
The IPPs disclosed that the government owed them about the cedi equivalent of $1.4 billion.