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Sir John fires President Mahama over expected emergency remedy

Karpower, the company Government is banking its hopes on to provide this service, has denied ever agreeing to provide an emergency remedy to the problem.

 

Former General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie popularly known as Sir John, says President Mahama’s assurance that power barges will be expected in the country from Turkey in April to provide a short-term solution to the current power deficit was nothing but a lie.

Government in February announced that two barges from Turkey will be available by April to add 450 megawatts (MW) to the national grid to ease the ongoing power crisis.

But Karpower, the company Government is banking its hopes on to provide this service, has denied ever agreeing to provide an emergency remedy to the problem. According to them, there was never a communication to government that the power plants would be completed by April.

"We are not an emergency power ship [maker]. What is being publicised as emergency power barges in Ghana are not our power ships. We don't service emergencies", Karpower's Africa and Asia Director, Patrick O'Driscoll told Joy Business.

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Reacting to the issue on Okay FM’ morning show, “Ade Akye Abia”, Sir John described President Mahama as a liar and called on him to apologise to Ghanaians.

“They told us the power barges will be in the country this April. Why do they keep lying to us? President Mahama must apologize to Ghanaians for the lies. This is not his first time of lying...President Mahama has been a liar for years...he cannot even remember his own name. This is the kind of president we have,” he said.

Frank Otchere, Ghana Grid Company’s Systems Control Manager tells Tv3: “The expectation for [the barges] to come in April have largely not been able to be realized because of challenges that have come…Securing these power plants takes a lot of activities here and there…Typically, it will take three to four years for a plant to come and, so, we making the effort to bring it within such a short time definitely will take a lot of effort.”

Ghana’s energy crisis has deepened drastically. The situation has compelled companies to resort to generators and this has led to some laying of their workers because of high production cost.

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