The Ministry of Energy has refuted claims on Thursday, June 23, 2022, by the Institute of Energy Security (IES), suggesting that the Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Prempeh has failed to provide a “single strategic option to lift Tema Oil Refinery (TOR)”.
This follows a statement released on Thursday, June 16, 2022, by the IES which appealed to President Akufo- Addo to urgently intervene and restore TOR’s facility to a sustainable operational path before it collapses dead in only a matter of months.
“While the price of a gallon of Diesel draws closer to Gh¢60, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) wishes to put the President H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on notice that “the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is still in a coma, requiring his urgent intervention to save the State facility which is saddled with over Gh¢400 million debt, from total collapse,” the statement said.
“After a year and a half in office, the Energy Minister has failed to provide that leadership necessary for the restoration of TOR. Put bluntly, the Minister has failed to find for TOR a strategic partner and direction to overturn the crippling state of the refinery”, IES added.
In a statement released by the Energy Ministry, the outfit refuted these claims and noted that Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has, on the contrary, demonstrated clear leadership, vision, and focus in working towards revamping TOR.
“On 20th May 2022, the Government approved TOR to begin negotiations with a strategic partner,” the statement said.
“On June 15, 2021, Dr. Prempeh swore in a three (3)- member Interim Management Committee (IMC) whose terms of reference were to ensure the smooth transfer from the previous Directors, undertake technical and human resource audits as well as receive and assess viable partnerships for TOR,” the Ministry added.
The statement, which describes IES claims as mischievous and unfounded, further, chastised IES by saying the energy think tank should be circumspect in its public pronouncements on issues in the energy sector before going public.
It, therefore, assured the general public that TOR is put on a ‘sound footing’ to support Ghana’s industrialisation drive.
