Some executives of COSECA at the press conference
The Coalition of stakeholders on the ECG Concession Arrangement (COSECA) says the entire Millennium Challenge Compact is in jeopardy.
According to the coalition, “Ghana stands the risk of losing the whole compact and in effect derailing the ongoing power sector reforms.”
A statement issued yesterday in Accra noted that “we have been part of the push which led to the President declaring that 51 percent of the concession will be owned by Ghanaians. We also have turned some of our members from an outright rejection of the concession to a principled acceptance.
“In recent weeks however all indications and information reaching us including published information suggest that the compact is heading for a crash and we may miss the September 2018 deadline and lose the $500 million plus infusion of capital and expertise to strengthen our power sector and ensure we never return to ‘dumsor.’”
The coalition said a number of developments have jeopardized the process.
It said Veolia, a French transnational company and a concessionaire in the MC power compact, had been pushed out of Gabon, whose population is less than that of Accra, on grounds of poor performance.
Its local partner, CH Group, which put in a joint bid for the ECG concession, had flatly refused to comply with President Akufo-Addo’s directive for the concessionaire to allow Ghanaians to own 51 percent.
“Yet it appears the rules are being bent to accommodate them.”
The coalition also noted that four days after the afore-mentioned letter, MiDA on February 16, this year, wrote to all bidders altering the timetable to the effect that bidders will not need to have Ghanaian stakeholders with 51 percent equity by September 2018, as originally agreed, suggesting that such requirement would be put off till December 2018 after a bidder had been announced as the winner.
“We don’t see how a winner can be picked without the Ghanaian partner and how 51 percent Ghanaian ownership can be effected after the winner has been selected. This is a blatant attempt to ignore our President’s declaration and muscle Ghanaians out of the agreement. We need to resist this.
“The entire compact will be lost if we miss the September 2018 deadline because the US Government will withdraw the funds.”
Confusion
The coalition further indicated that by its letter of 16th February, MiDA upset the process by extending the deadline to 31st December, 2018.
“MiDA should withdraw that letter and allow the original dates to stand. We suspect that failure to define the process for the 51 percent Ghanaian ownership informed the changes. Unfortunately, it is still not clear how that Presidential declaration will be enforced and effected.”
“We also need their assurance that they will conduct the assessment of bidders in a most stringent and transparent way to ensure we have the best.”
By Samuel Boadi