We gave Ghana value for money - AMERI

AMERI Energy has said it gave Ghana value for money in the 150 million-dollar power plants it supplied the country during the acute power crisis under former President John Mahama.

AMERI, in a statement ahead of a scheduled meeting with the Energy Committee of Parliament, said even though they are confident of the integrity of their arrangement with Ghana, they admit the government has the right to reassess the deal.

“AMERI acknowledges that the Government of Ghana has every right to assess all public contracts for value of money or quality of delivery. The company strongly believes the project delivered on both. An independent report by renowned auditors PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC) found that, out of 7 similar projects, the Ameri plant at Takoradi offered the best value for money,” the statement said.

The statement added: “When we entered Ghana, the country was going through its worst energy crisis. The only option on the table for the Government was a rental deal, which offered no value for money to the country. We are proud to say that we are the only company working in the region which offered and delivered a short term 5 year BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) solution, installed in record time the power plant features brand new, state of the art GE turbines.”

Meanwhile, the parliamentary committee has granted a request by former Power minister Kwabena Donkor to allow the media to cover his testimony before the committee. Mr. Donkor was in charge when the deal was signed with AMERI.

The DEAL
The NDC government signed the BOOT Agreement on February 10, 2015 as an emergency power arrangement to help reduce the power supply deficit at the time, and the project was expected to be delivered within 90 days after the fulfillment of conditions precedent, but it was never done within the stipulated period.

Then President Mahama’s brother’s company – Engineers and Planners – was given part of the contract at a highly ridiculous cost.

“Even though the plant is operational, several omissions and concessions were made in the BOOT Agreement which requires re-negotiation, amendments and restructuring of the Agreement. The Agreement simply is grossly unfair and is not as it presently stands, in the best interest of Ghana,” the Addison Committee had said.

“The Committee has enumerated technical, financial and legal observations and recommendations in the report that are aimed at rectifying the anomalies in the BOOT Agreement for the effective and efficient implementation of the project,” it added.

It said that the recommendations were also to serve “as a guide for future negotiations of power projects,” and advised that the government “should take all necessary measures to avoid power supply deficits which result in the execution of emergency power agreements.”