Boakye Agyarko disclaims reports of offering to help Mahama’s ORAL team recover PDS funds

Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer hopeful Boakye Agyarko has reacted to a statement claiming that he has offered to assist the Operation-Recover-All-Loot (ORAL) preparatory team set up by President-Elect John Dramani Mahama to recover monies from the PDS scandal.

In a statement sighted by GhanaWeb, Boakye Agyarko, a former Minister for Energy, said that he has made no such offer.

He indicated that the statement claiming he made the request was fake and did not come from him, urging the general public to disregard it.

“I, Boakye Agyarko, former Minister for Energy, would like to categorically DENY a false statement attributed to me.

“The statement claims that I am ready to assist the ORAL Committee in recovering losses incurred from PDS.

“I advise the public to disregard this statement as FALSE,” the statement reads.

About PDS scandal

In 2019, the government was forced to terminate a concessionaire agreement with Power Distribution Service Ghana Limited (PDS) due to challenges with the financial guarantee provided for the deal.

The decision, according to the government of Ghana, followed the detection of fundamental and material breaches of PDS’s obligation in the provision of payment securities (demand guarantees) for the transaction, which were discovered upon further due diligence.

Some critics have chastised the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia-led administration for not acting in the best interest of Ghana in the negotiation and signing of the power concession.

Now it has emerged that some “powerful” elements and cronies within the current administration were allegedly scheming to share the shares of Power Distribution Service Ghana Limited.

Three names that have been mentioned in all these dealings surrounding the dubious PDS deal are Philip Ayensu, who happens to be a board member of PDS; Edward Akufo-Addo, also known as Bumpty, who is the blood brother of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; and Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, the nephew of President Akufo-Addo.

The scandal led to the US government cancelling the $190 million grant to Ghana intended for private sector participation in electricity distribution under the US Millennium Compact.

About the ORAL Team:

President-Elect John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, appointed a five-man team to start work on his anti-corruption initiative, Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL).

This initiative aims to recover all of the country’s resources that have been looted by public officials.

The anti-corruption team will be chaired by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu.

The members of the team include former Auditor-General Daniel Yao Domelevo, retired Commissioner of Police (COP) Nathaniel Kofi Boakye, renowned private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu, and investigative journalist Raymond Archer.

A statement issued by the spokesperson of Mahama’s Transition Team, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, indicated that the main function of the team is to gather information on suspected acts of corruption.

It added that the essence of the preparatory team is to ensure that ORAL starts as soon as possible.

The chairperson of the team, Okudzeto Ablakwa, has indicated that they had their first meeting on Wednesday.

He stated that the team is not going to receive any compensation for the work on the team.

BAI/OGB

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