In January 2019, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House), citing Ghanaweb.com, reported that Ghana's Public Utility Workers Union had urged president Nana Addo to halt the sale of the Teshie-Nungua desalination plant to AquaVenture. The union feared the state utility Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) would have to take on US$10 million of debt in the deal. The 60,000 m³/day plant had been idle since January 2018 because GWCL could not meet its payments. AquaVenture had extended its deadline for closing to 31 March 2019.
The report showed how payment problems at a state utility shut down a large desalination plant and left its sale to a private operator politically contested.