President Akufo-Addo has charged the newly inaugurated eleven-member Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) board to make the implementation of the Compact II its topmost priority, ensuring that the targets of the compact are achieved.
The board’s task, Akufo-Addo indicated, will be to permanently solve the debilitating power crisis facing the country.
The Committee is under the chairmanship of Prof. Yaa Nitiamoah Badu with the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, Trade Minister, Allan Kremanteng, Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister, Otiko Djaba, as members.
The rest are; the Attorney General, Gloria Akufo, Business Development Minister, Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, the CEO of MiDA, Eng. Owura Kwaku Safo.
Also, the Private Enterprises Federation (PEF), the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and the Association of Private Voluntary Organization in Development have a representative each on the board.
There are three non-voting members on the board and they are the Board Chairman of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Chairman of the NEDCO board and Resident Country Director of the MiDA, Mrs. Deidra Fair James.
Speaking after inaugurating the membership of the board Monday, Akufo-Addo said the success story of Compact I ought to guide the activities of the board all the times.
In a response to the president’s call, chairperson of the Board, Prof. Badu assured the president and people of Ghana that the Board will not let him and the country down.
“We have challenges that we need to resolve to move our country forward,” she said “and the board will do everything” it can to fix the challenges in the country’s power sector.
Mr. Ofori-Atta delivering the government’s maiden budget statement last month disclosed that the compact II programme had officially come into force.
He said: “Both parties to the Compact, the Governments of Ghana and United States of America, are committed to complying with their obligations.
“However, the implementation of Ghana’s commitments has faced some challenges due to disagreements between stakeholders, particularly between labour, ECG and the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA).”
Staff of ECG are against moves by government to privatise the energy distribution company, fearing they may lose their jobs. They also argue that ceding part of ECG’s operations and management to a private firm for 25 years under a concession deal will not inure to the country’s benefit.
According to the National Secretary of ECG Senior Staff Union, Patrick Binyam they are not against the Compact II programme, but the private sector involvement in the operation of the company.
“We as ECG Staff are not against the Compact II. What we are against is the private sector participation in ECG and the modalities that we are not comfortable with,” he stated on Morning Starr on March 3, 2017.
