First Deputy Minority Whip in Parliament, Ibrahim Ahmed, has voiced his opposition to the proposed merger of the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Bui Power Authority (BPA).

He described it as an act of 'state capture'.

In an interview on Joy FM's Top Story on Tuesday, September 3, he explained that the idea of a merger was considered when the Bui Power Authority was being established but was ultimately rejected to ensure effectiveness through separate authorities.

Read also: Gov't plans to merge hydro dams into one entity called Ghana Hydro Authority The Banda MP argued that the merger was not in the best interest of the Bui Power Authority, as it would result in one entity overpowering the other. "It is a state capture.

The essence of the state capture is this - government wants to bring all the thermal plants together and form what we call Ghana Thermal Authority, then, bring all the hydro together to form Ghana Hydro Authority…When governemnt wanted to do this in 2017, the CEO FOR Bui at that time argued that it was not in the good interest of Bui and at that time, government wanted to merge all the thermal plants and float them on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

Who was going to buy them?" He asked.

He also criticised Dr.

Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the NPP's running mate, for lobbying MPs to support the merger, questioning his involvement in energy matters now that he is no longer the Energy Minister.

Mr Ibrahim suggested that Dr.

Prempeh should focus on his current role instead of influencing decisions that are not part of the parliamentary recall agenda.

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