The Minority in Parliament has voiced strong disagreement with the Energy Ministry’s recent announcement regarding the discovery of previously reported “missing” containers belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). This revelation, which was prominently featured by the Daily Graphic, is being met with skepticism from the opposition.
During a press briefing today at Parliament House, Collins Adomako Mensah, the Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Energy Committee, asserted that the containers were never truly missing, contrary to reports from Energy Minister John Abu Jinapor.
Adomako Mensah found it “strange” that 2,637 containers were reportedly “retrieved,” a figure that more than doubles the initial report of 1,357 missing containers. He contends that the containers likely never left Tema Port, suggesting instead that the initial audit was flawed.
“First of all, the Minority vehemently disagrees with the position that they have been retrieved. Indeed they were not missing,” Adomako Mensah stated. “We are now being told that the containers have suddenly been found at the same Tema Port, as reported by the Daily Graphic.”
In light of these discrepancies, he has called on Minister John Abdulai Jinapor to appear before the House and provide a full and transparent account of the situation.
This development follows an interview on Monday, May 25, where Richmond Rockson, spokesperson for the Energy Ministry, informed the Daily Graphic’s Timothy Gobah that a committee, established by the Minister and chaired by Professor Innocent Senyo Acquah, had investigated the 1,300 containers initially reported unaccounted for. The committee, however, astonishingly discovered 2,637 containers consigned to ECG at the Port of Tema, significantly exceeding the number of items initially believed to be missing.
Background
Back in March, during an official interaction between the Minister of Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, and the Electricity Company of Ghana the power distributor claimed to have 2,491 uncleared containers filled with cables and other essential equipment stuck at the Tema Port.
However, the Minister established a committee, chaired by Professor Innocent Senyo Acquah, to investigate these claims. The committee’s findings indicated that while ECG reported 2,491 uncleared containers, an independent audit at the port located only 1,134 containers, leaving 1,357 unaccounted for. At the time, Minister Jinapor expressed concern and pledged a thorough investigation into the matter.
Story By: Eugenia Ewoenam Osei
