The former Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko's recent revelations about the incidents during the re-negotiation of the 250 Megawatts Ameri Power Plant have drawn strong reactions from the Minority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembele, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah.

Buah took to Twitter to express his views, stating that Agyarko's revelations confirm the long-held belief of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government is notoriously corrupt.

He pointed out that the claim by Agyarko that Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, acting on behalf of the government, disregarded the committee set up to negotiate the Ameri deal, reflects the immense power held by certain individuals in the government.

“This jaw-dropping revelation is a further affirmation of the long-held view of the NDC Minority in Parliament that the dubious and needless deal that was championed by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government soon after coming into office was nothing but a fraudulent scheme to shortchange the Ghanaian people.

“In the said interview, Mr. Boakye Agyarko lifted the veil over a tussle between himself and the nephew of President Akufo-Addo, Gabby Otchere Darko over who had the legitimate right and authority to champion the shady AMERI renegotiated deal that was going to witness elements in the Akufo-Addo government cream millions of dollars off the poor Ghanaian taxpayer.

“While the former Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko preferred to renegotiate with METKA, Gabby Otchere who essentially was acting for and on behalf of the family and friends cabal in government, chose to negotiate with AMERI,” parts of the tweet read.

The Ellembele legislator added that the renegotiated Ameri deal has short-changed Ghana by about $1 billion, extending the contract from 5 to 10 years at a significantly higher cost to the Ghanaian taxpayer.

Background

Boakye Agyarko, a New Patriotic Party (NPP) Flagbearer hopeful, recounted alleged incidents during the re-negotiation of the 250 Megawatts Ameri Power Plant when he was the Minister for Energy.

According to Agyarko, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko re-negotiated the Ameri deal without the approval of the committee set up by the government for this purpose.

He further stated that when he confronted Gabby about the matter, the latter claimed President Akufo-Addo was already aware of the steps he had taken. Agyarko expressed his surprise at Gabby's actions, considering specific instructions from the Cabinet regarding the renegotiation process.

When Agyarko discussed the issue with President Akufo-Addo, the president questioned if there was a problem with Gabby's actions. Agyarko emphasized that the authority to renegotiate the Ameri Power Plant terms did not lie with Gabby and that the proposal from the firm he contracted violated all Cabinet instructions, extending the contract to 20 years.

Despite agreeing with Agyarko's reasoning, President Akufo-Addo asked him to forward the deal negotiated by Gabby to the committee responsible for renegotiating the deal.