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Former President John Agyekum Kufour has received recognition from the Board and Management of the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) for his assistance in founding the business years ago.
A group from the firm, led by Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere of GRIDCo, made a courtesy visit to the former President on the occasion of his 84th birthday in appreciation for the part he played in the formation of the company.
The chairman of the GRIDCo Board appreciated the former President’s role in establishing GRIDCo 15 years prior.
The establishment of GRIDCo came about as a result of the previous president Kufuour’s desire to put into practice long-standing energy sector reforms from the late 1990s to unbundle Ghana’s Energy Sector in order to make it more efficient and attract investment.
Ing Ebenezer Essienyi gave the former President a summary of the company’s development and performance since it was founded.
He also reaffirmed the Board’s, Management’s, and Staff’s commitment to seeing that the corporation fulfills its mission in the benefit of the country.
The former president noted the following after thanking the group for the gesture:
“I am happy that the decision my government took has been a good one because the government’s concern was to take steps to find solutions for the country’s energy issues.”
The former President also recalled how, because West Africa’s power networks were not synchronized, President Obasanjo’s government in Nigeria had ready-to-transmit electricity.
He stated that at the time, Ghana could not get power since the grids were not linked.
He said that it marked the start of a sub-regional initiative to link the electricity networks in West Africa.
Dzifa Amegashie, a board member, read a tribute to former president Kufuor.
“During your Presidency, you drove the implementation of critical reforms required in our country’s Energy Sector culminating in the unbundling of the power sector (i.e. generation, transmission and distribution) in 2006. The diversification of the power sector has inspired efficiency, elimination of barriers to power supply delivery and securing investment in power infrastructure” part of the citation read.
“By your vision and actions, the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) was established in December 2006. GRIDCo’s role as the ‘Operator’ of the National Interconnected Transmission System commenced in August 2008. The creation of GRIDCo has enabled a reliable grid for development and improved the accessibility to electricity within Ghana and the West Africa sub-region” the citation added.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
