Herbert Krapa
In a stern warning to the new administration, Herbert Krapa, immediate past Energy Minister, has urged the Mahama government to take responsibility for ensuring a stable power supply in Ghana.
This comes after John Jinapor, Co-Chairman of the Transition Team sub-committee on Energy and Natural Resources, claimed that “massive load shedding looms as Ghana’s fuel stock depletes” and sought to blame the previous government for it.
Herbert Krapa, however, disagreed with Jinapor’s assertion, stating that load shedding is not imminent, but rather a result of technical or emergency power generation issues or incompetence in managing the power sector.
He emphasized that the responsibility lies with the new administration to procure more liquid fuel and plan effectively to prevent power disruptions.
Contrary to Jinapor’s claims, Krapa revealed that the previous government had left a stock of light crude oil, which Cenpower currently uses to generate power, while AKSA continues to receive heavy fuel oil shipments.
This, he said, can be easily verified by contacting the power plants directly.
Herbert Krapa’s remarks come from a place of experience, having served as Minister for Energy during the previous administration.
Under his tenure, Ghana achieved a significant milestone in the energy sector, with plans to increase renewable energy to 10% by 2030.
Additionally, the government had implemented measures to enhance indigenous capacity in the petroleum sector, promoting local content and participation.
Herbert Krapa’s advice to the NDC government is clear: get to work and stop finger-pointing.
He emphasized that the previous administration had successfully kept the lights on for eight years, despite challenges, and expects the new government to do the same.
BY Daniel Bampoe