After the transition team’s first day of work, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the spokesperson for the next government’s transition team, has voiced grave concerns.
Last-minute hiring and a sizable payment of GH₵240 million to a company that did business with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) were two of the main concerns brought up.
According to Mr. Kwakye Ofosu, the future administration may suffer significant financial consequences as a result of these activities.
Mr. Kwakye Ofosu emphasized the payment to the ECG-related firm and mentioned that the incoming team asked for the transaction to be stopped until more investigation could be done.
Given the fragile status of the economy, the former Deputy Information Minister emphasized that the timing and size of the payment could have a negative effect on the public coffers.
He questioned the necessity and urgency of this specific payment, even if he acknowledged that payments to Independent electricity Producers (IPPs) might be acceptable to maintain a stable electricity supply.
Citing the next government’s obligation to handle the financial ramifications, Mr. Kwakye Ofosu disclosed that the panel recommended more extensive consultations to address these issues. “The incoming government would be severely impacted financially by the timing of the recruitment,” he said.
He stated that during the next transition team meeting on Friday, the members of the departing administration decided to put the GH₵240 million payment on hold while additional talks took place.
He added:
“Good governance requires that the incoming government is given the opportunity to make these decisions,”
“We have picked up information and indeed we’ve seen documentation relating to efforts to pay over GH₵240 million to an entity that is supposed to have done some business with the ECG. Now, if it was being paid to IPPs to keep the power on, one perhaps would not have an issue but it is being paid to an entity whose work in my view is not as critical as IPPs.”
“We raised strong objections to these maneuvers and requested that they be put on hold. The government side agreed to this, and we will forcefully insist that this is a dangerous precedent.”
