The government has paid a total of $937.50 million to three Independent Power Producers (IPPs) as excess capacity charges for the period between 2017 and 2020.
Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, who disclosed this in Parliament, said $347.20 was to AKSA, $359.00 to Karpower and $231.30 to Cenpower during the period under review.
Responding to questions on the Floor of Parliament Thursday, Mr. Ofori-Atta also indicated that the three-year service agreement between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and McKinsey signed in 2018 was reviewed because of a leadership change at both the Board and Management level in GRA in 2019.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale North, Suhuyini Alhassan Sayibu, had, among others, asked the Minister of Finance why McKinsey and GRA mutually agreed to suspend the contract intended to increase tax revenue collection.
According to Mr. Ofori-Atta, the McKinsey agreement, amongst others, was reviewed to ensure that it was in line with the new strategic direction.
“After the review, GRA and McKinsey mutually agreed to change the focus of the agreement from supporting only the immediate need, to increasing revenue collection in the 2018/2019 fiscal year, to a long-term objective of creating a sustainable revenue collecting entity,” he stated.
He indicated that the new contract “represents this new strategic direction and is focused on three areas – digitisation, performance management and supporting the creation of a transformation office to build internal capacity.”
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House