Police raids house of former Power Minister

A former Power Minister Dr Kwabena Donkor’s house has been searched by four personnel of the Ghana Police CID over investigations into the Ameri deal.

The former Minister in the Mahama-led administration confirmed the incident to Accra-based Starr FM.

He said that the search team was led by an Assistant Superintendent of Police who searched the “whole house” with his team. They took away the former Minister’s laptop and pen drives.

He said the CID team “searched my Study, the children’s room” in an operation which lasted for about three hours.

He added that the search warrant indicated that he was being investigated as a “suspect” for “causing financial loss to the state” over the Ameri deal.

However, the former minister said “I have nothing to hide on Ameri, I’m a citizen of this country… I’m prepared to meet them in court.”

Government officials in the Nana Addo-led administration have described the Ameri deal as a stinking one.

The economic management team also has the blessing of the President to look into the deal and review it.

Ghana under the Mahama-led administration signed a $510 million contract with Africa and Middle East Resources Investment (AMERI) Group to supply gas turbines to Ghana.

Ghana paid $290 million more than it should for the $220 million power generators.

An in-depth investigation into the deal by Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang (VG) in December 2015 alleged the NDC government paid more than the actual price for the turbines on the international market.

However, the former Minister of Power Dr Kwabena Donkor has defended the actions of his government saying there was nothing shady in the deal.

He told Daily Guide, in 2015 that as a build-own-operate-transfer, the NDC government “has not made any payments to Ameri and will not be making any payments for the cost of the equipment,” and that “per the agreement with Ameri, the Government of Ghana through the Volta River Authority (VRA) will only make payments to Ameri for power produced and supplied to the VRA just like any other Independent Power Producer (IPP).”