Attorney General clears Mahama’s AMERI deal, cautions Energy Minister against termination.

By Papisdaff Abdullah.

Gloria Akuffo

Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice Gloria Akuffo has warned the Energy Ministry to dismiss plans of terminating the AMERI deal because it will end up in huge damages against the Government of Ghana.

The erstwhile Mahama administration signed a $510 million contract with AMERI to build power plants, own and operate it for five years before transferring it to the Government of Ghana during the energy crisis in 2015.

This was done on a sole-sourced basis after a meeting between the former President of the Republic of Ghana and the Crown Prince of Dubai.

The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) then in opposition described the agreement as a “stinking deal” which will be re-looked at when it assumes power. A 17-member committee established by the Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko advised the government to re-negotiate the $510m power deal with UAE-based AMERI energy after a report revealed it was over-priced by $150million.

In responding to two letters from the Energy Minister requesting for legal advice to suspend monthly payment to AMERI, the attorney general kicked against the move because “the deal is valid” and satisfies Ghana’s procurement processes.

In her response, Ms. Akuffo noted the Government of Ghana “entered into a very unfavourable agreement with AMERI”, adding the only way out is for the government to “renegotiate the deal with AMERI with a view to achieving a more favourable term.”

The letter sighted by panafricanvisions.com said in part that: “For the GoG to extricate itself from the highly unfavourable BOOT agreement without paying damages and or penalties to AMERI, there is a need to demonstrate that the agreement was procured by illegal means either through fraud or corruption or in breach of the PPA: however, for GoG to make such claims it is imperative to gather sufficient relevant evidence to establish whether or not the BOOT agreement is tainted by fraud or corruption.”