President John Dramani Mahama’s Reset Ghana mandate promised to restore institutional integrity, uproot embedded patronage networks, and place competence above cronyism. Yet, scarcely months into office, has the Volta River Authority (VRA) stood at the epicentre of a storm that could either vindicate or fatally wound that promise.
At the heart of the controversy is Ing. Edward Ekow Obeng-Kenzo (“Kenzo”), the caretaker Chief Executive of VRA, whose continued stewardship is being fiercely resisted by a broad coalition of VRA insiders, senior and unionised staff, as well as prominent National Democratic Congress (NDC) operatives and grassroots cadres. Their charge is unambiguous: Kenzo is a dyed-in-the-wool NPP loyalist, implicated in serial procurement improprieties, managerial bullying, operational misjudgements, and politicised staffing and must not, cannot, be entrusted with the future of Ghana’s most strategic power asset.
The New Voter Forum (NVF), a pressure group with known NDC heavyweights has gone public, warning that retaining Kenzo would “demoralise the base, compromise the Reset agenda, and endanger energy security.” Their call is not merely political; it is operational, financial, ethical and strategic.
This story meticulously lays out the allegations, the documentary trails cited by staff and activists, the institutional risks, and the plausible forward-looking reforms that Ghana must pursue with or without Kenzo. It also clearly acknowledges that these are allegations that demand urgent, transparent, forensic scrutiny. For the avoidance of doubt, Mr Kenzo must be given a full and fair right of reply. But until then, the stakes are too high to pretend the smoke is harmless mist.
The question before President Mahama is stark:
Can a regime elected on the promise of cleansing the rot leave a man so deeply entangled in allegations of mismanagement, conflict of interest and political sabotage at the helm of the VRA?
The Money Trail: Sole Sourcing, Inflated Contracts, and a $52m Shado
Central to the dissent against Kenzo is a spine of procurement allegations including a reported US$52 million sole-sourcing scandal aired on WADR television in 2022 (as cited by internal complainants), in which Kenzo and the then CEO, Ing. Antwi Darkwa, were allegedly implicated. Insiders insist this is not an isolated episode but part of a pattern, a pattern they want forensically audited, end-to-end, over the last six years. And the continues presence of Kenzo as the care-taker CEO or subsequently CEO of the VRA will thwart any inquiry into this alleged anomalous procurement.
Technically, Kenzo is alleged to lack the strategic engineering acumen required at CEO-level, frequently leaning on specific subordinates before taking decisions. His eight years in top management under the NPP reportedly failed to add even a single megawatt of conventional power with his signature project being the costly relocation of the Ameri units from Aboadze to Kumasi at US$32 million. Critics compare this underwhelming pipeline to predecessors who nonetheless delivered major assets like the Tema Thermal Power Plant and the Aboadze Thermal Power Plant.
If accurate, these concerns raise serious questions about meritocracy, institutional morale, and the integrity of VRA’s succession pipeline. Energy security is not served by fear-based management, opaque procurement, and politicised HR.
Politics, Identity, and the Integrity of State Powerhouses
At the core of the NVF press briefing is a political contradiction that the NDC base finds intolerable: How can a government elected on the back of reform appoint, even temporarily a man widely seen as a “die-hard NPP operative” to lead one of the state’s most strategic utilities?
The NVF alleges that Kenzo:
Openly campaigned for the NPP, and was appointed Deputy CEO by former President Akufo-Addo.
Late-recruited NPP foot soldiers into VRA (Nov-Dec 2024), including his own niece, allegedly bypassing due process.
Has attempted to clandestinely procure an NDC party card at the Madina Zongo Junction branch despite voting in Shama Constituency, a move seen as a late, self-serving camouflage effort.
Is allegedly now paying “thousands of dollars” to party officials to secure confirmation as CEO, a claim that, if verified, would amount to vote-buying inside the state.
These allegations are not merely partisan grievances. They point to a dangerous normalisation of political infiltration inside the arteries of the state, where the line between technocratic duty and party warfare is erased.
If the Reset agenda means anything, it must reassert that:
Leadership of strategic SOEs cannot be captured by party machines, blue or green.
Due process, competitive recruitment, and transparent KPIs must determine appointments.
Procurement must be insulated by design, not wishful thinking.
The following entities and contracts have been flagged by staff for immediate scrutiny:
IDC Energy Ltd
Fosap Logistics
Syhno Hydro
Among the most alarming claims:
A steam turbine rotor bearing allegedly procured at seven times the market value and reportedly unusable.
A condenser for the steam turbine purchased a full decade before it would be needed.
A repowering of the T3 plant in Takoradi ballooning from under US15 million to US70 million, allegedly using Ameri units, a number staff say is being “dangled before appointing authorities” to justify continued control.
A US19 million single-sourced contract awarded to Syhno Hydro for Akosombo base repair works, which insiders argue could have been achieved for far less via competitive tendering.
Capital spares for Kpong Thermal Power Station reportedly diverted to IDC Energy at an alleged US19 million when the same could be sourced for less than US$10 million in the open market.
These are not minor variances. If proven, they speak to possible systemic abuse of procurement protocols, a culture of insider capture, and a potentially deliberate inflation of project costs to siphon rents under the cover of complexity and urgency.
This is precisely why the call is not merely to “sack Kenzo” but to launch a no-holds-barred, value-for-money, third-party forensic audit, with prosecutorial follow-through where warranted. Anything less would be a betrayal of the public purse and public trust for the reset agenda.
Culture, Bullying, Patronage: What VRA Staff Say About Kenzo’s Leadership
The complaints go beyond numbers and megawatts. They go to ethos.
Across multiple departments, staff reportedly describe Kenzo as “a bully”, “vindictive”, and “emotionally unstable”, a leader who threatens at the slightest provocation, and promotes selectively.
Right-of-reply is sacrosanct, but so is swift, corrective executive action when the public interest is imperiled.
What Must Happen Now: A Roadmap for Integrity, Continuity and Energy Security
- Immediate Administrative Action
Relieve Ing. Edward Ekow Obeng-Kenzo of his caretaker role pending investigations.
Install an apolitical, highly competent interim CEO with a fixed, transparent, performance-driven mandate. - Commission a Full Independent Forensic Audit (18–24 weeks, publicly reportable)
Scope to include:
All major procurements (2019–2025) with value-for-money benchmarking.
Contracting chains with IDC Energy, Fosap Logistics, Syhno Hydro and others.
Ameri relocation expenditures and T3 repowering cost escalations.
Capital spares purchases across Takoradi, Kpong, and other VRA assets.
Hydrological risk decisions preceding the 2023 spillage, including command chains, warning protocols, and social impact/compensation frameworks. - Parallel Legal and Ethics Processes
EOCO, OSP, CHRAJ, and the Auditor-General should be empowered to run concurrent, coordinated lines of inquiry.
Mandatory asset declarations for senior executives and procurement decision-makers.
Whistleblower protection protocols activated for VRA staff ready to testify. - Structural Reform of VRA Governance
Reconstitute the VRA Board with deep technical, legal, financial and ESG competence, not party proxies.
Digitise procurement, traceability, and contract performance dashboards, with quarterly public disclosures. - A National Energy Integrity Compact
Create a cross-party, civil society-anchored pact that ring-fences strategic SOEs from partisan capture.
Codify spillway decision protocols into law, ensuring statutory minimums on early warning, public education, and inter-agency coordination.
Six Questions Ing. Kenzo Must Urgently Answer (Publicly) - What was your precise role, authority and documentation trail in the 2022 US$52m sole-sourcing transaction?
- Who authorised the 2023 spillage, on what hydrological thresholds, and why were downstream communities inadequately warned?
- Why were certain capital spares reportedly procured at multiples of market value, and why are some allegedly unusable?
- What explains the jump from less than US15m to US70m for the T3 repowering? Provide the full breakdown.
- Did you directly or indirectly facilitate late 2024 recruitments of party loyalists, including relatives, outside due process?
- Have you, or proxies acting on your behalf, offered money or inducements to secure confirmation as CEO?
Right of Reply
This investigation relies on internal testimonies, official memoranda cited by staff, and public statements by the New Voter Forum and other stakeholders. Ing. Edward Ekow Obeng-Kenzo is hereby offered the full and unedited right of reply. Any response, documentary refutation, or clarification he provides will be published in full and subjected to the same rigour of verification.
Conclusion: The Courage to Reset, or the Convenience to Relapse
The VRA is too strategic to be left in the hands of controversy. Ghana’s energy future, reliability, affordability, decarbonisation and resilience will not be built on bullying boardrooms, opaque contracts, and politicised control rooms.
President Mahama promised a Reset. This is the first, unavoidable, high-voltage test. The choice is not between vengeance and forgiveness; it is between impunity and institutional rebirth. The nation is watching.
Act now. Suspend, investigate, reform and reset.
By: Stephen Keteku Boadi, Member of VRA concerned workers
