Minority calls for abrogation of PDS concession

Minority in Parliament has called for the immediate annulment of the concession agreement between the Government of Ghana and Power Distribution Services (PDS), describing it as highly inimical to Ghana’s power sector.

According to them, the concession, if left to continue had the potential to destabilise the energy sector with serious consequences including; rising cost of power and crippling of power generation companies. Mr John Jinapor, former Deputy Minister of Power speaking at a news conference in Parliament described the deal as a bad one for the country and should be abrogated straightaway.

The government recently suspended its concession agreement with PDS upon the detection of fundamental and material breaches of PDS’ obligation in the provision of Payment Securities (Demand Guarantees) for the transaction which were discovered upon further due diligence.

Mr Jinapor also stated that the claim by government that it suspended the concession to protect nation’s interest was only a smoke screen to cover up its complicity in the whole scandal. He said detailed checks by the Minority revealed that PDS had so far not injected the needed financial capital as stipulated under the concession agreement.

He said on the contrary, the company resorted to appropriating all revenues collected from consumers (including expected payments to Transmission and Generation Companies) in a bid to shore up their revenue requirements.

“In effect, they are using other state-owned companies’ money to artificially enhance their balance sheet whiles those companies wallow in spiraling debt” he added.

Mr Jinapor also called on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the United States of America to apprise itself of the facts and carry out its own independent enquiry on the matter. He alleged that the Ministries of Finance and Energy knew all that while that the guarantee provided by PDS was false but decided not to act on the irregularity for reasons best known to them.

The Minority therefore served notice to government that they would resist any attempt to re-introduce other private sector players or the formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which is on government’s agenda for concession.

Mr Jinapor also called on government to identify and prosecute those responsible for the fraudulent guarantee as confirmed by the Minister of Energy, Mr John Peter Amewu.

He charged government to ensure the full refund of all monies appropriated by PDS with interest through this fraudulent scheme and their collaborators.

He called for the dissolution of the current ECG Board and appoint a competent non-partisan board, adding that the current management of the ECG must be re-structured and made to sign performance bonds to deliver efficient supply of power to Ghanaians.