The Eighth Parliament will return today, Tuesday, June 6 after weeks of recess.

It will be the commencement of the Second Meeting of the Third Session.

Notice was given on the resumption by Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin on Friday, May 19.

It was in pursuance of Standing Order 37 of the Parliament of Ghana.

The House will on Tuesday officially accept new member for Kumawu Constituency, Eric Yaw Anim.

Eight years after flood and explosion occurred at the GOIL fuel station at Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Ghana’s capital city Accra, killing and injuring people who had sought refuge from the floods that had occurred during a heavy downpour on June 3, 2015; some survivors and victims are calling for help after not receiving any compensation.

Three of the victims who were severely burnt; Kasim Suraj, Thomas Sekyi and Alex Mensah recounted their ordeal and how the accident has affected them adversely to Johnnie Hughes on 3FM Community Connect on Friday, June 2, 2023.

According to them, life has been very difficult for them both socially and economically after losing their livelihood and getting defaced by the fire. Alex Mensah who used to work as a commercial bus driver recounted how people stare at him and sometimes refuse to sit by him in public transport.

“Even my own children said I am not their father when I went home after I was discharged from hospital. It took them some time to accept my situation. There are other children too who cry or flee when they see me. Because of these experiences, we find it difficult to go into social gatherings” he added

The trio revealed on 3FM 92.7 that they haven’t received any insurance or compensation and are bearing the cost of treatment themselves but sometimes they don’t go for their reviews because of financial constraints.

Kasim Suraj, also a former driver mentioned that he has undergone twenty surgeries over six years because the fire destroyed his eyes as well as the bones in his head and needs a headgear to protect his brain harsh weather but couldn’t afford it.

“I was on admission in the hospital when some money was brought to me to use for my medical bills and that I will be given compensation when I am discharged. However, upon my discharge, they told me I have received my compensation already. Is the money for medical bills compensation?” he quizzed.

They also appealed to fuel stations and people who deal in highly combustible items to be safety minded and adhere to all safety precautions in order not to endanger lives and properties.

Thomas Sekyi on behalf of the group of victims and survivors of the June 3 disaster numbering ninety six (96) is appealing to government, individuals and organisations to come to aide and also provide employment opportunities to the capable ones among them.

According to the Bureau of Public Safety, 154 lives were loss and 150 people sustained various degrees of injuries in ‘Fire and Flood’ disaster of June 3, 2015

The World Bank has said the Power Purchasing Agreements signed by former President John Mahama, which the Akufo-Addo Government had no choice but to pay, has contributed significantly to the economic woes of the country.

The former President’s administration signed take-or-pay agreements, committing Ghana to pay for billions of cedis for excess energy it does not need.

For a government that had failed to raise enough money to pay for the country’s power needs, thereby plunging the country into nearly five years of dumsor, the Mahama administration signing such an expensive take-or-pay deal at the twilight of the regime raised eyebrows in Ghana and abroad.

Since inheriting the take or pay agreement by the Mahama administration, the Akufo-Addo government has so far committed over 12 billion Cedis to service the debt for power Ghana does not need, and the agreement is still suffocating the nation.

In the midst of Ghana’s return to the IMF for a balance of payment support, the World Bank has emphatically faulted the Mahama agreement as a major cause of Ghana’s economic difficulties and has called for an urgent review of what it described as “wrong and expensive’ agreements.

“In the aspect of Ghana, those contracts you signed with the PPA are too expensive’, World Bank Country Director Mr. Pierre Frank Laporte told Joy News of the contract signed by the Mahama administration.

“The kind of PPA you signed, it means Ghana is paying for electricity not in use through doubling of capacity.”

“The fact is, in the last few years, Ghana entered into some PPAs that were wrong. These types, in our view, were at the wrong rate and at the wrong prices and today you’re paying duly for it. And today the country is being billed for many of these wrong PPAs.”

So far, the government has paid a whopping 12 billion to service this automatic debt as a result of the inescapable nature of the agreement, and with the country having to continue paying, the World Bank Director called for an urgent review and backed steps the government has taken for a review of the deal.

“I know that the government has started some talks with the IPPs to renegotiate some of these PPAs,” he said.

The Akufo-Addo government has been hailed for its ability to pay for power generation for over six years – thus ending the over four-year-dumsor Ghana faced due to the erstwhile Mahama Government’s inability to pay for power generation.

The erstwhile Mahama Government committed Ghana to a number of Power Purchasing Agreements before it lost power in 2016.

The agreements, numbering over 40, committed Ghana to over $1 billion dollars of take or pay contracts for excess power Ghana didn’t need, which meant the newly installed NPP Government was saddled with finding money to pay for debts bequeathed to it at a time the country was unable to pay for power generation.

In his first State of the Nation Address, President Akufo-Addo announced his Government would renegotiate a number of the agreements in order to free the government of mountain debts, an exercise which was carried out with the renegotiation of about 11 of the power deals.

Nonetheless, Ghana was still left with other debt commitments of the remaining agreements, which has, so far, cost the government over 12 billion Dollars.