A member of the communication team of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Saaka Salia, has given a justification for the decision by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to relocate the African and Middle East Resources Investment Group Plant (AMERI Plant) to Kumasi and rename it.

Speaking in an interview on GHOne TV on April 22, 2024, Saaka Salia, asserted that even though the AMERI plant was brought in and commissioned during the John Dramani Mahama administration, it was the Akufo-Addo government who bore the greatest share of the cost of the plant.

According to him, the Mahama government paid only 10% of the cost of the plant while the Akufo-Addo administration paid about 90% of the cost of the project before the country became the full owner of the plant.

“… Let Ghanaians understand that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo paid for the AMERI. John Mahama didn't use his money to pay for it and Nana Addo didn't also use his money to pay for it. But the NPP government paid 90% of the AMERI deal because it was BOOT (Build, Operates, Own and Transfer).

“So, the AMERI that they said is their project… at the end of the day, you went and hired it and the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government paid 90% of the AMERI price. Because it was commissioned in 2016, you only paid for one year, the rest of the four years were paid by the Akufo-Addo regime,” he said.

The NPP communicator said that the Akufo-Addo government decided to move the AMERI plant for strategic benefits.

“Once it is the property of Ghana, we should not let it be here and rot. Let us make the maximum use of it. Then we decided to take six of the turbines and then we sent them to Kumasi. And that is the first time that we have such a plant in Kumasi.”

Watch the interview below:

90% of the Ameri Power Plant was paid by President Nana Akufo-Addo... - Saaka Salia#GHToday #GhoneTV pic.twitter.com/HQzrd2AeOo

— GHOne TV (@ghonetv) April 23, 2024