According to him, the erstwhile Akufo-Addo-led administration kept the lights on, and with the NDC in charge now, they must ensure that they do the same.

This follows comments by Yapei-Kusawgu MP and Co-Chairman of the Transition Team sub-committee on Energy and Natural Resources, John Jinapor on the looming dumsor crisis amidst a low fuel stock.

Mr. Jinapor accused the Akufo-Addo-led administration of leaving the power sector in crisis, which he claimed could lead to load shedding.

He asserted that the worth of fuel left for power generation could not last beyond two days.

However, in a post on Facebook, Mr Krapa refuted claims that Ghana’s fuel stock is dangerously low, threatening massive power outages.

“Mr. Jinapor is wrong. Load shedding does not ‘loom.’ It is caused either by technical or emergency power generation issues or a lack of competence in managing the power sector. Mr Jinapor seems to be haunted clearly by the latter,” Mr Krapa wrote.

Mr. Krapa emphasised that before leaving office, the Akufo-Addo administration ensured a reliable stock of fuel to power key plants.

He further stated that maintaining a stable electricity supply now lies squarely in the hands of the new government.

“The responsibility of the new administration is to not only procure more liquid fuel to keep the lights on whenever liquid fuel becomes required to complement gas supply but also to plan competently to avert power supply disruptions. We did it, and they can do it too if they can.”

He called on the NDC government to avoid “needless finger-pointing” and instead focus on practical solutions.

“The NDC government should get to work as we did, the reason we kept the lights on for eight years, regardless of the difficult times,” Krapa said.

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A statement signed by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, stated that the appointment took effect from Tuesday, November 19, 2024.

The President expressed confidence that Mr. Krapa will continue to distinguish himself in his new role to ensure the continued growth and transformation of the energy sector.

Before his appointment, Mr. Krapa was the Minister of State at the Ministry of Energy, a position he had held since July 2024.

Akufo-Addo nominated Herbert Krapa, who was the Deputy Energy Minister, to be a Minister of State. This followed the selection of the former Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, as the running mate for the NPP flagbearer, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

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Below is the statement:

The merger, which has garnered support from industry experts and policymakers, is aimed at streamlining regulatory functions, cutting operational costs, and eliminating overlaps in the governance of Ghana’s energy sector.

Speaking in an interview during the Customer Focus Week at the Energy Ministry, Mr. Krapa emphasized that the government’s goal is to create a more efficient regulator, guided by the outcomes of the ongoing stakeholder engagements.

“My stance aligns with the outcome of these consultations. We are striving for a regulator that operates efficiently, whether by merging the technical and financial functions or keeping them separate—whichever ensures greater effectiveness and efficiency,” he stated.

Mr. Krapa also called on departments and agencies under the Energy Ministry to enhance their service delivery.

“I’m pleased that we’ve successfully celebrated Client Focus Week, and to my knowledge, we’re the only ministry to do so. This shows how seriously we value our clients, with a focus on going above and beyond to meet their needs. I hope this will inspire all agencies and the ministry to reflect on ways to further improve the services we offer to our customers,” he added.

Source: Adomonline

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“Heads must roll when we find that persistently some people are just making it difficult for us [ECG] to provide quality, affordable and efficient service to our customers and the Ghanaian people”, he said and added that however many of the staff who are going the extra mile to provide excellent service must be rewarded for others to emulate.

Mr Krapa made the call when he visited the Customer Services Office of ECG in Accra East to as he puts it “to echo the frustrations of ECG customers across the country so that together we can work to improve the process.”

Mr Krapa was accompanied by Deputy Minister, Mr Collins Adomako-Mensah; Mrs Wilhelmina Asamoah Chief Director;  Solomon Adjettey, Director of Power and Isaac Nsarko Biney Director of PPBME.

During the briefing, it came to light that the ECG management was surprised and could not tell how middlemen, known as ‘goro boys’, can get the contact details of customers who apply for meters through the ECG online process and try to dupe such customers.

In the course of the interaction, the Minister and his deputy randomly placed a call to the ECG complaint centre and to the hearing of the entire gathering the operator professionally interacted with the Deputy Minister.

Reacting, Mr Krapa described the response as “very positive and that the gentleman deserves a pay rise” adding that people should be rewarded for doing the right but recalcitrant ones should be sanctioned.”

Mr Krapa who until his appointment as the Minister of State was the Deputy Minister of Energy and the Board Chairman of ECG, explained that the sentiments of customers are an indication that the trust they had for the service provider, ECG was “fast dissipating.”

Mr Krapa said customers “cannot accept ECG taking forever or too long in resolving the complaints and challenges of customers.”

He advised that ensuring that people have access to ECG promptly and resolving their problems efficiently and timelessly was the only way that the ECG could win back the trust of its customers and Ghanaians in general.

Although ECG has several social media platforms for providing services and taking complaints and feedback from customers, the minister encouraged the management to use both traditional and modern media including the Information Services Department, and town hall meetings to engage customers so that those who are not resorting to the use of the social media will be aware of their services.

He added that educating the customers would also prevent situations where some people use the services of Goro Boys.

Regarding what he referred to as “the elephant in the room” the Minister said the acquisition of meters continues to attract more complaints with others ready to pay for meters that are for free, aside from paying for the legitimate service charges which are not for sale.

He said he was aware of the efforts by the company to clear the backlog of over one million metres which had come about as a result of new customers, faulty metres and over-aged ones and encouraged the company to speed up the efforts at providing the metres.

Mr Krapa indicated that the process for acquiring the metre must be compressed to avoid duplication, all with the view to make the process simple and accessible to many customers.

Source: Myjoyonline.com

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He said the ministry had been proactive and had kept constant touch with the players in the energy sector so that challenges were nipped in the bud to ensure that power generation was sufficient and unceasing, noting that “constant electricity supply is my priority”.

Mr Krapa gave the assurance in an answer to a question from journalists when he paid a working visit to the Aboadze Energy Enclave in Sekondi in the Western Region.

Accompanied by technocrats from the ministry, Mr Krapa visited the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo), Amandi Energy Plant and the Volta River Authority (VRA) and its different plants, the Tiko, the Taka, as well as the T3.

The minister said he was in the enclave “to see these facilities for myself, engage the engineers, understand if there are some issues so that when we are back in Accra, we will be able to work around these issues to ensure that power generation is sufficient”.

At each of the plants, the minister and his entourage were briefed by the engineers and taken around the plant. Mr Krapa commended the management and engineers at the various plants for running the systems that kept the lights on.

“Ghanaians rely on us, count on us to make sure that the lights are on, and it comes from  power generation,” he said.

Ghana Gas

It came out that there was an ongoing 17-day planned maintenance shutdown at the Ghana Gas processing plant at Atuabo for the replacement and maintenance of some of the plant’s components.

Although the shutdown was two days old as of last Friday, it had not affected the power supply because alternative arrangements had been made to cater for the deficit.

Touching on the shutdown, Mr Krapa said: “Today is the second day of Ghana Gas’s planned maintenance outage. The lights are on across the country, that is so because of the planning that went into the process.”

He explained that fingers crossed, no challenge was anticipated from ENI, which was the other supplier of gas, and expressed confidence that power generation would be stable for distribution across the country.

Maintenance

Answering questions about the shutdown of Amandi in November this year, for major maintenance, Mr Krapa explained that all these outages for maintenance were usually planned a year ahead.

“And so last year in November, we met at Royal Senchi together with all the players and made a plan. This outage maintenance that the Amandi Twin City officials are talking about, as you heard them say, is an emergency one. It’s one that came up after we did the planning,” he stated.

He indicated that the ministry would sit around the table with the managers to discuss the matter to ensure the safety of the plant and the provision of energy were balanced, and noted that “The decision will be taken to make sure that we meet both important variables for generation”.

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President Akufo-Addo on Tuesday nominated the deputy Energy Minister to be a Minister of State at the Energy Ministry after the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, selected the Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh as his running mate for the 2024 election.

The Majority Leader therefore requested the House to fast-track some of the processes in place to ensure a vacuum is not created at the ministry.

He also “humbly” appealed that the Appointments Committee hold the vetting today, Friday, July 5.

But the Minority in Parliament did not agree to this.

According to the Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the incumbent Energy Minister is still at post and, thus, did not comprehend the need to rush the appointment process of the Minister of State-designate.

“The Energy Minister is still the Energy Minister. What is the urgency that we are talking about? Now that this has come into the public domain, the least we can do is to publish it in the newspaper for the record because this is a House of rules then we can move forward from there.”

Mr Krapa, a Deputy Energy Minister, was in March this year appointed by President Akufo-Addo as the new Chairman of the Board for the Electricity Company Ghana (ECG).

His appointment followed the resignation of the company’s board chair, Keli Gadzekpo.

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