The former Deputy Minister for Energy, John Jinapor, has expressed shock at revelations by the former Minister for Energy, Boakye Agyarko, of the alleged role played by the nephew of the President Akufo-Addo, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, in the renegotiation of the 250 Megawatts Ameri Power Plant deal.
Speaking in an interview on Neat FM, on Monday, July 24, 2023, Jinapor said that the fact that Gabby Otchere-Darko was able to re-negotiate the Ameri deal without the consent of the committee set up by the government to work on the deal is shocking.
He added that what makes it more worrying is President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s reaction to Boakye Agyarko’s concern that Gabby was meddling in the deal.
“A whole cabinet has taken a decision; the cabinet has authorized the minister of energy to work on something and later report back to it. Then the president would pass behind the cabinet, and authorize Gabby Otchere Darko, his cousin, that he should do something different from what the minister is doing.
“If the president is aware of this… this country is naked, this country is down forever. I mean this is so shocking,
“It is so unfortunate that a whole setting president is aware that his cousin who does not swear an oath, who does not appear before parliament, who does not have any government position, has set up his own team to renegotiate government’s contract with Ameri,” Jinapor, the Member of Parliament for Yapei-Kusawgu, said in Twi.
Background:
New Patriotic Party Flagbearer hopeful, Boakye Agyarko, reportedly narrated some alleged incidents that transpired during the re-negotiation of the 250 Megawatts Ameri Power Plant when he was the Minister for Energy.
According to a news report by energynewsafrica.com, Boakye Agyarko in an interview on Kumasi-based Asanteman FM, alleged that New Patriotic Party (NPP) stalwart, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, re-negotiated the Ameri deal without the consent of the committee set up by the government to work on the deal.
He added that when he confronted Gabby on the matter, he told him to be quiet because President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was already in the know of the steps he (Gabby) had taken.
He narrated that he was on a flight to the United States of America when Gabby called him, lamenting about not being able to reach him.
“I told him I was onboard a flight travelling. Then he (Gabby) told me that he was sending me a document via email so I should check.
“When I arrived safely and went to my hotel room, I opened my email address and saw the document. To my surprise, Gabby had, on the blind side of the Committee set up and approved by the President to renegotiate with Ameri Energy Group, contracted a law firm to engage Ameri Energy Group and completed their negotiation and recommended a certain company to operate the Ameri Power Plant and extended the contract to 20 years.
“I sent Gabby a mail and asked him what authority he had to do that. And I told him Cabinet has given specific instructions to follow and his response was what makes me think that my Boss (President Akufo-Addo) doesn’t know about what he has done…so I kept quiet,” he is quoted to have said by energynewsafrica.com.
The former energy minister said that when he spoke to President Akufo-Addo on the matter, the president asked him whether there was something wrong with what Gabby did.
Boakye Agyarko said that he told the president that, “the authority to renegotiate the terms of the Ameri Power Plant doesn’t lie in the hands of Gabby and that the proposal the firm he contracted made had violated all the Cabinet instructions and extended the contract to 20 years.”
Agyarko added that Akufo-Addo agreed with his reasoning but went ahead and asked him to forward the deal Gabby had negotiated to the committee that was set up to renegotiate the deal.
View the MP’s comments plus a video of Agyarko’s interview below:
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You can also watch a new episode of Legal Agenda below:
Gabby Otchere-Darko, John Jinapor and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (from left to right)
