If government were to pay its electricity bills the power generation and distribution companies would be okay since government is its biggest debtor, the flag bearer of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, has said.
Speaking about the PPP’s plans of ensuring a sustainable and affordable power distribution to put an end to the energy crisis at a presidential debate organised by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in Accra on Wednesday, 30 November, Dr Nduom suggested that government should provide tax incentives for people to invest in solar power.
According to him, the power crisis has not been resolved holistically as Ghanaians have been made to believe.
“The issue that has not been resolved so far as energy is concerned is solving the problem in the entire chain. Not just generation, but transmission, distribution, billing, and collection, and when you say billing and collection then government comes in. Government is the biggest debtor,” he stated.
Dr Nduom noted: “If government were to pay its bills, the power companies in Ghana would begin to become okay. Unless and until that happens, we will just be talking and discussing this matter, so that first solution must come from there.”
The business mogul advised: “We must find a better way of financing the billions of dollars that we need to solve the entire power chain in Ghana, and we must give ourselves time and not be in a hurry to say we have solved the problem, because you solve one part of it, the other parts are still there. So we are talking about putting in a comprehensive solution and letting Ghanaians know that after a certain period of time, say five years, this problem will really be solved in the entire power chain,” adding: “Solar power is the one that we should provide tax incentives for people to invest in and use solar power as an alternative.”
