Parliament To Grill Donkor Over Power Crisis

Parliament is to summon the Minister of Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, to brief Members on measures his outfit is undertaking to curb the frequent power cuts that has impacted negatively on all sectors of the economy and has brought untold hardships on the people.

The Minority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who made the appeal to the Speaker during last week Friday’s sitting, said it was imperative for the Power Minister to be dragged before the House for questioning, since the country could no longer wait for vain promises.

Immediately after the legislative House had adjourned sitting, Dr. Kwabena Donkor engaged the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy on issues purported to be related to the country’s energy crisis.

It is, however, not clear what triggered the said meeting, although speculations are rife that the said meeting was centered on the two power barges that, the country intends to buy from Turkey to ease the power problems.

The Minority had been critical about a directive from the Presidency, asking the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to provide funding for the barges. Despite Mr. Donkor’s meeting with the Committee on Mines and Energy, the Minority Leader said the Power Minister must be compelled to address the nation on efforts being undertaken to curb the ‘dum so, dum so’ syndrome.

According to Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, since Dr. Donkor was appointed as head of the Power Ministry; he has heard several reports in the media about his vision to end the power crisis. He argued that it is about time he came to the House to “brief Members about what he is doing to end the frequent power cuts”.

He also appealed to the Speaker to ensure that the event that triggered the violence during the Black Stars match against Equatorial Guinea in Malabo was well investigated and the perpetrators brought to book. That notwithstanding, he said the government ought to tell Ghanaians what it was doing to seek compensation for those who got injured during the Malabo Stadium riot.

Source: The Chronicle