Boakye Agyarko with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Flagstaff House yesterday
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has merged the Ministries of Energy and Petroleum and Power.
The new President, who announced the merger at the Flagstaff House yesterday while presenting the first batch of ministers to serve in government, said having one person to take oversight responsibility of the entire energy sector with the support of a formidable supporting staff would produce the results needed.
“There were all kinds of problems about the duplication of activities and there is the need for us to rationalize the infrastructure of our energy sector.
“We are putting back petroleum and power to have one person head the various institutions,” he said.
President Akufo Addo subsequently named Boakye Agyarko as Minister-designate for the merged ministries, now Ministry of Energy.
“I think that Boakye Agyarko is in the position to undertake that task and do it successfully, so he’s the one that I am recommending to parliament for approval,” he said.
The Ministry of Power was created in 2014 by former President John Mahama in the heat of the debilitating power crisis.
Dr. Kwabena Donkor, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Pru East and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Energy, was appointed the Minister of Power, but he resigned a year after he failed to tackle the power crisis at the time, also known as ‘dumsor’.
Agyarko’s profile
Boakye Agyarko was a Policy Advisor for the 2016 campaign team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He has worked as banker in New York for several years.
He has also served as an investment banker for years, with enormous managerial skills and experience in negotiations.
The major challenge Mr. Agyarko will face, if approved by parliament, will be to prevent the reoccurrence of the power crisis.
By Cephas Larbi