According to Samuel Atta-Akyea, the head of the Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, the government is working to pay off any debt owed to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) on Saturday, July 1.
Atta-Akyea claims that steps are being taken to avoid and stop the disastrous effects of IPPs shutting down power plants.
“The independent power producers are concerned about the necessity that they should be paid and if you pay one, and you don’t pay the other and the power is withdrawn, what will be the consequences, and so I don’t think that the Minister of Finance will do that kind of thing of paying some and not paying others.”
READ ALSO: Mahama Pleas With IPPs Not To Shut Down Over $1.7 Billion Debt
“The government is acutely aware of the implication of withdrawing power from the system and so the government is doing everything to ensure that it doesn’t come to that.”
“It is a financial matter and the Finance Minister must find a way to ensure that even if they will be met in some reasonable terms, they should do it. If you don’t have the money, but there is goodwill to pay some of the money, it will urge them to give you the power and so that is the whole point of the matter but when you take a stand against you not paying them at all, then you are trying to dare them to cut the power.”
In a memo, the Chamber had instructed its members to shut down their facilities from July 1 through July 8 in the event that the government did not pay them 30% of the $1.73 billion owed to them.
However, in a statement issued by the chamber on Friday, June 30th, it was revealed that the IPPs had agreed to continue running their power plants after July 1, 2023, following negotiations with the Electricity Company of Ghana.
