by Naa Sakwaba Akwa
The Minority in Parliament is demanding that the President sacks his Executive Secretary, Nana Asante Bediatuo, over the controversial revised AMERI deal that has led to the firing of Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko.
They have also called on the police to institute a criminal probe into the processes that led to the review of the deal that was initially signed by the previous John Mahama administration.
Parliament last month froze approval processes for the agreement following concerns the new deal will cost the country about a billion dollars more.
The $510million power plant for five years was criticized by the then opposition New Patriotic Party together with allied policy think tanks including ACEP and IMANI.
The party promised to review the deal if it won power in the 2016 elections and when it did, a 17-member committee was constituted to investigate the details of the AMERI deal and provide recommendations.
According to the new deal, a third party company, Mytilineous, is to run the AMERI plants for 15 years instead the original five years.
But the re-negotiated deal by the government has left many displeased. Although the Energy Minster says the deal will save Ghana $400 million, experts have described the new deal as bogus.
The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), IMANI Africa, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) and the Minority in Parliament, have all called on the government not to go ahead with the proposed deal.
Some called for the dismissal of the Energy Minister but not many believe the President, Nana Akufo-Addo could have taken an action. The deal is off the table, but in a shocking turn of events on Monday, the president announced the firing of Mr Agyarko and asked Mines and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu, to take over the Energy Ministry until a substantive Minister is appointed.
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