A Deputy Communications Officer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), says the World Bank Country Director’s recent remarks on the power purchase agreements signed during the John Mahama administration makes him the worst president in Ghana’s history.

Ernest Owusu Bempah said it is refreshing the World Bank has “spilled the beans on official complicity on the obvious mismanagement and incompetent (management) of our economy under the erstwhile Mahama administration.”

According to him, this verdict makes Mr Mahama not worthy to occupy the highest office of the land ever again. 

He added that the hikes in electricity prices is as a result of Mr Mahama’s mismanagement. 

“In fact, what the World Bank is simply saying here is that the persistent unreliable power supply in the Mahama era was compounded by bad Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) that saddled the nation with huge debts in the energy sector but this avoidable energy sector debt still poses a threat to the economy for adding up to the country’s debt stock.”

He said the fact that Ghanaians are now paying the price for “Mahama’s mess speak volumes,” he said in a press release issued on Tuesday, June 6. 

In an interview with JoyNews, the Country Director indicated that his outfit had identified certain factors that were driving the country’s debt situations. Mr Laporte said one of the factors the bank has identified is the energy sector.  

He said the deficiencies in the sector characterised by the tariff systems and management issues coupled with expensive power purchases by the state in addition to the transmission losses, were the major problems in the energy sector driving Ghana’s debts. 

However, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Pru East constituency, Dr Kwabena Donkor has criticised the assertions made by the World Bank Country Director. 

Dr Kwabena Donkor who was the Power Minister under Mr Mahama’s administration, and under whose tenure some of the power plant agreements were signed, says Mr Laporte’s claims are not accurate and not borne out of proper research.

“I am just pointing out that he did not do proper research. Either he did not do proper research or as it is usual with the World Bank, a government in power does no wrong. It is only when the government exits that the World Bank comes out with all sorts of misgivings about their performance,” he said.