CEMSE Demands Disclosure, Review Of 2013 PPAs
The Centre for Environmental Management and Sustainable Energy (CEMSE) is calling for the full disclosure and review of Ghana’s Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), particularly those signed during the 2013 emergency power supply period.
The demand follows the conviction of former Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Managing Director Asante Kwaku Berko in the United States over a bribery and money-laundering scheme linked to a power plant project in Ghana.
CEMSE Executive Director Benjamin Nsiah said publishing the agreements would enable Civil Society Organisations and other stakeholders to scrutinise the terms and identify any potential irregularities.
“I think government must disclose all Power Purchase Agreements from 2013, especially during the emergency periods.
We need to disclose them because disclosure allows assessment and then affirmation of certain illegal dealings or not from the CSO perspective,” he said in an interview with Citi Business News.
Mr Nsiah also called for existing PPAs to be subjected to further scrutiny, arguing that agreements that do not provide value for money should be renegotiated where necessary.
“Beyond that, I think the contract has already been signed, but we also interrogate the contract further and if the need be, we should renegotiate for new terms,” he said.
He further proposed that individuals involved in negotiating the agreements should be questioned to help clarify how contentious or ambiguous provisions were arrived at.
“If we could also interrogate persons involved in negotiation, it would also help us unravel some of the ambiguous deals in some of these contracts,” he added.
Beyond the review of existing agreements, CEMSE is advocating for a permanent disclosure framework requiring all PPAs to be published from the time they are signed until their expiration.
Mr Nsiah said the Energy Commission, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and the Ministry responsible for energy should publish the agreements on their respective websites.
“I think that going forward, all Power Purchase Agreements from their start to end must be published on the Energy Commission’s website as well as the PURC’s website,” he said.
He added that the Energy Ministry should also make the agreements publicly accessible, arguing that transparency was essential to strengthening accountability in Ghana’s power sector.
The calls come amid renewed public scrutiny of Ghana’s power sector following the conviction of Mr Berko by a US federal jury.
The case involved allegations of a bribery scheme connected to the development and financing of a power plant under an agreement between the Government of Ghana and Turkish energy company Aksa Enerji Uretim A.S., a client of Goldman Sachs.
According to US court documents and evidence presented during the trial, Mr Berko and others conspired to pay more than US$1 million in bribes to Ghanaian government officials to facilitate the power plant project.
Mr Berko, who was an executive director in Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division at the time, was involved in managing the transaction between Aksa Enerji and the Government of Ghana during the country’s energy crisis.
The prosecution alleged that bribes were offered to officials at various levels of government to facilitate approvals and help the Turkish company secure the project.
In April 2015, prosecutors said Mr Berko and his associates discussed a proposed US$1 million payment to the then Minister of Power, who was responsible for key approvals for the project.
The US case also alleged that five Ghanaian officials received US$5,000 each during an all-expenses-paid trip to Turkey to inspect equipment associated with the proposed power plant.
The power plant agreement was subsequently ratified by Ghana’s Parliament in July 2015.
CEMSE says the conviction underscores the need for greater transparency around power-sector contracts and stronger mechanisms to ensure that public-interest agreements are properly scrutinised.
The organisation believes making PPAs publicly available would allow civil society, researchers, industry stakeholders and the wider public to assess the terms of such agreements and promote accountability in the sector.
-Overseeronline.com
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