The Public Utilities Workers Union (PUWU) has urged the government to take greater ownership of Ghana’s energy sector challenges rather than relying heavily on prescriptions from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

Deputy General Secretary of PUWU, Enoch Paul Hayes, said Ghana must critically assess external recommendations and focus on reforms identified by local stakeholders as the real drivers of the crisis.

Speaking on Joy FM’s PM Express on Tuesday, Mr Hayes questioned why the pricing of power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) was not receiving greater attention in discussions about Ghana’s energy sector.

“They are saying that there are issues, and the issues are not where you are trying to tackle, but the issues are really in places where it’s a matter of concern. For example, the generation: we have IPPs and their pricing. Why is that not a concern?” he asked.

His comments come amid renewed efforts by government to address persistent challenges in the energy sector, including financial pressures, power generation costs and the operations of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

Mr Hayes cautioned against adopting external prescriptions without considering Ghana’s own experience and the outcomes of similar interventions in other African countries.

“What is happening to Nigeria? Whatever they said they were trying to do there has worsened the whole situation. What happened to Uganda? The examples are there,” he said.

He argued that Ghana has demonstrated its ability to solve complex problems when it takes ownership of them, citing the turnaround of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) as an example.

“And as a country, we have also seen what we are able to do ourselves. So, just like Kwame Nkrumah said, the black man is equally capable of managing his own affairs. We can do something. We don’t always need to rely on the IMF,” he stated.

Mr Hayes was particularly critical of the perception that IMF support should automatically be accepted as the solution to Ghana’s economic challenges.

“I want to state it clearly. We have evidence. The IMF is not Father Christmas. They are not coming to say that they are giving us something for free. Whatever they put in, they know what they want to get from it,” he said.

He maintained that government should instead pay closer attention to proposals from organised labour and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on how to resolve the energy sector’s challenges.

He said workers, through organised labour, had already presented what they consider to be critical measures to the government.

“The advice is not what they are trying to look at, but rather we as workers of Ghana, well pulled by the leadership of TUC and Organised Labour, have given the president and also the minister some critical and important things we need to do and tackle,” he said.

Mr Hayes also questioned the World Bank’s position on ECG’s revenue performance, arguing that the institution had previously acknowledged improvements.

“The World Bank were the same people who said that currently, the ECG, our revenue is coming up, we are doing well. So what has changed?” he asked.