The Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has denounced Sunon Asogli Power Plant Limited’s decision to halt operations over an outstanding USD259 million debt owed by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), calling the shutdown an act of “bad faith.”

The shutdown of the 560-megawatt power facility has raised public concern over a potential return of ‘dumsor,’ the intermittent power outages that plagued Ghana in the past, with potentially severe economic impacts.

Speaking to the media following the Annual IMF-World Bank Meetings in Washington, D.C., Dr. Amin Adam assured the public that a resolution is close.

Negotiations to settle the debt are in their final stages, with an agreement expected within days to avoid further disruptions to Ghana’s power supply.

The Finance Minister detailed the ongoing negotiations with Sunon Asogli, explaining that the Ministry of Finance recently made a one-off payment to Independent Power Producers (IPPs), including a USD30 million instalment to Asogli. Dr. Amin Adam noted that ECG, which led the debt negotiations, initially agreed to settle with this amount.

However, Asogli later requested an additional USD30 million, which was not part of the original agreement.

The Finance Minister clarified that the government was open to finalising the debt settlement but insisted that Asogli sign the settlement agreement before any further payments.

“Asogli submitted the final agreement for our review. We reviewed it and are fine with it except for one issue which led to the shutdown. So when the Ministry of Finance made the one-off payment to all the IPPs, we were supposed to pay Asogli $30 million and subsequently, they made a case for another $30 million, but we did not agree to that,” Dr. Amin Adam explained. He noted that despite the Ministry’s readiness to pay, Asogli’s refusal to sign the agreement before receiving further payments was a point of contention.

He continued: “If it is part of the settlement agreement, why should I implement an agreement that has not been signed?”

The Minister expressed disappointment in Sunon Asogli’s ultimatum, saying: “So it will be as if we as a country don’t know our rights. Especially with elections approaching, it seems everyone thinks that by putting a gun to the government’s head and threatening to shut down, they can achieve their demands.”

He added: “They acted in bad faith.”