Kwabena Donkor urges govt to snub MCC, they can’t instruct us on PDS

Former Power Minister, Dr. Kwabena Donkor has backed government’s decision to abrogate the controversial Power Distribution Services (PDS) concession agreement with the Electricity Company of Ghana.

He is therefore urging Ghana not to kowtow to the dictates of the USA’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) at the expense of the laws of Ghana.

Speaking to Winston Amoah on 3FM’s Sunrise Morning Show on Tuesday, the former minister maintained that Ghana is a sovereign state and cannot therefore be instructed by another state to take decisions against its will.

Government in a letter dated October 18, 2019 to the MCC announced the termination of the PDS agreement which came into effect on March 1, 2019 and saw PDS take over the management of Ghana’s major power distribution company, ECG. Government arrived at this decision after it’s investigations found that PDS entered the agreement with a forged document, which is the demand guarantee classified as “condition precedent” in the agreement.

But Ghana’s decision appears not to be sitting well with the US government which has given the Ghana government October 30 to reverse the decision or face the consequences of the decision, which will be to lose 190 million dollars under the MCC Compact II. Ghana would not also be considered for the MCC Compact III.

But Dr. Kwabena Donkor who is also the Member of Parliament for Pru East is advising the government against any backtracking move.

“We are a sovereign state” he stressed, “we can’t take instructions from MCC”.

He pointed out that fraud is a crime under Ghana’s laws and wondered why the MCC is pushing government to overlook a possible crime and reinstate PDS.

He urged government to step back, properly assess the debacle and take the right decision in the interest of the country.

According to Dr. Kwabena Donkor Ghana’s “problems” are more than the 190 million dollars the country stands lose, urging government to forgo the amount find other alternative including floating shares on the stock market.