Centre for Democratic Development- Ghana Demands Full Accountability Over $235m Teshie-Nungua Desalination Deal

Story By: Deborah Adorsu

The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) is calling for accountability at every level of the controversial Teshie-Nungua Desalination Plant deal following the $235 million arbitration award against Ghana.

Governance analyst Vera Abena Addo of CDD-Ghana says political authorities, engineers and lawyers who were involved in structuring and approving the project must answer questions about how Ghana ended up with an idle plant and a massive financial liability.

Speaking on the matter, she stressed that the deal raises serious concerns about due diligence and value-for-money analysis, while calling for full, transparent probes into decisions taken from its inception to termination.

Lets take a look at the Background story Behind Ghana’s Idle Teshie-Nungua Desalination Plant:

The Teshie-Nungua plant, built at a cost of about $126 million and commissioned in 2015, was meant to produce 60,000 cubic metres of water daily for about 500,000 people in Teshie, Nungua, Spintex, Baatsona and Sakumono.

But the plant has been shut since October 2025 amid unresolved maintenance and contract issues. On September 17, 2026, an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal ordered Ghana Water Limited to pay $235 million to Befesa Desalination Developments Ghana Limited (BDDG), with the Republic of Ghana held liable under a sovereign guarantee approved by Parliament in 2012.

Under the Water Purchase Agreement, Ghana Water was required to buy treated water at about GH¢6.75 per unit while selling at GH¢1.47, and pay a monthly capacity charge of about $1.4 million whether or not the plant operated at full capacity.

Government support for the project between 2020 and 2024 totalled $57.38 million.

The tribunal also dismissed Ghana’s counterclaims valued at $144.5 million.

As a result CDD Ghana is urging the government to publish the full Water Purchase Agreement, the complete International Chamber of Commerce arbitration award, and an independent value-for-money audit.

It is also calling for far-reaching reforms in how Ghana negotiates, approves and manages public-private partnership projects to prevent similar judgment debts in the future.