Senior staff of the Volta River Authority (VRA) on Thursday stormed Parliament, demanding the immediate withdrawal of bills on the proposed merger with the Bui Power Authority.
The move of the concerned staff follows assurances from the Minister of State at the Energy Ministry, Herbert Krapah that the government would no longer pursue the bills in Parliament.
The aggrieved staff said the proposed merger is a veiled attempt to privatise 75% of the assets of both VRA and Bui Power Authority.
National Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of VRA, Theophilus Tetteh Ahia alleged that, the merger will lead to the transfer of the hydro assets of these entities to a private entity and will lead to an increase in cost of power.
He expressed surprise that the management of the facility was not consulted and the staff Association does not know anything about it.
Mr Ahia noted that, several petitions have been submitted to the President, the Vice President, the Chief of Staff, and the Speaker of Parliament and shared copies with all 275 Members of Parliament to reject the bill.
Emphasising their opposition to the merger, he argued that VRA is efficient, reliable, and produces the cheapest electricity in the country.
“Our demand is very simple. What we are saying is that the Volta River Authority is very efficient, it’s reliable and the power from the Volta River Authority generation plant are the cheapest in this country.
“Therefore, we are asking that the bills brought before the Parliament should be rejected by the honourable Members of this Parliament that it is not going to inure to the benefit of the people of this country,” he said.
Mr Ahia stressed that VRA is a national security asset and the only institution that protects the economy and energy security of this country.
“Therefore, the attempt to merge the Volta River Authority hydro and that of the Bui Power Authority – separation of the VRA thermal asset and creation of thermal power authority and in virtual field to private investors and some faceless politicians is not in the best interest of this country,” he argued.
He further warned that, the move would exacerbate existing challenges within the energy sector, citing the debt owed by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to VRA.
“As you are all aware, the ECG is facing challenges, it is not able to make payments to all the energy fields that they receive from the generators. As we speak today, ECG’s debt to the VRA is over GH₵2 billion,” he added.
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