In a shocking revelation, Minister-designate for Energy, John Jinapor, has clarified the controversy surrounding his earlier statement about Ghana’s fuel reserves.
Contrary to claims by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the country had only five hours of fuel reserves left, John Jinapor explained that his statement referred specifically to Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) for power generation.
Speaking before the appointments committee, John Jinapor stated that he had been misquoted by the media, which had sensationalized his comments without providing context.
John Jinapor, answering a question posed to him by the Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo Markin, noted that the media misquoted him based on the headlines they put out following his social media post and his comments after President John Mahama’s swearing-in on January 7, 2025.
He emphasized that his initial statement was based on data from the system operator, GRIDCo, which revealed that Ghana had less than two days of stock for both Distillate Fuel and Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO).
However, John Jinapor’s clarification has exposed a significant discrepancy in the NDC’s narrative.
While the party had claimed that the country was on the brink of a power crisis due to the alleged five-hour fuel reserve, John Jinapor’s revelation has shown that this claim was grossly exaggerated.
In fact, Jinapor revealed that CenPower, one of the power generation companies, had up to 23 days of fuel reserve as at the time of President John Mahama’s swearing-in on January 7, 2025.
This starkly contradicts the NDC’s claim of a looming power crisis.
The controversy surrounding Jinapor’s initial statement had sparked widespread debate, with many criticizing the NDC for allegedly spreading misinformation.
-BY Daniel Bampoe