I’ve not stopped MiDA over ECG reforms –Chief of Staff

From Musah Umar Farouq, Lawra
THE CHIEF of staff, Julius Debrah, has denied issuing a fiat to the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) to halt ongoing reforms within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

The Secretary of the ECG Senior Staff Association, Patrick Binyemi, was quoted by a section of the media as saying that Mr Debrah gave the directive at a meeting at the Flagstaff House recently.

“Until the president is briefed and a directive comes, MiDA is directed to halt its activities,” Binyemi said.

However, Mr Debrah, who is in the Upper West region campaigning, used the occasion in the Lawra constituency to rubbish the report.

“There is a purported story attributed to me as having directed that MiDA should suspend all negotiations relating to ECG, I wish to say here categorically that I have been in the Upper West for the past three days and I've not issued any such statement. Indeed, government has not stated that it is privatizing ECG.

“What government has been talking about is a way of reforming by signing up to the compact, and in the long run the objective is how best to improve the performance of ECG,” the former local government minister told journalists during his campaign.

Meanwhile, MiDA has also issued a statement denying the report, saying “no directive to halt its activities in respect of ECG Private Sector Participation has been given, and no such directive was discussed at the last meeting held at the Flagstaff House.”