Minority petitions US to probe PDS scandal

The Minority in Parliament has petitioned the United States government over the PDS scandal that has rocked Ghana in the last few weeks.

The petition was signed by Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu and delivered to the US Ambassador to Ghana Stephanie S. Sullivan, by Ranking Member on Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

In the petition, the minority said it is seeking to “trigger investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of the United States of America especially after a clearer picture is now emerging that the Akufo-Addo Government stands complicit with top functionaries and cronies neck-deep in the putrescent sleaze.”

The Electricity Company of Ghana was last week asked by the government to resume its role as power distributors after the deal with PDS was suspended over fraud allegations.

A full-scale investigation into allegations of fraud is expected to begin with the Minister of Energy, John Peter Amewu hinting of possible prosecutions.

But according to the minority, like most Ghanaians, they “have grown skeptical about so-called investigations by the Akufo-Addo administration since a countless number of these investigations only end up clearing appointees. The reports are never published and the real culprits are never identified and punished.

The minority added that “we are additionally fortified by the knowledge that United States Authorities would not adopt a nonchalant attitude and allow millions of US taxpayer Dollars under the signed Compact II of the Millennium Challenge Account to be recklessly misapplied and squandered.”



Below is the full statement;

MINORITY PETITIONS US AMBASSADOR ON PDS SCANDAL

The Minority in Parliament has this morning petitioned the United States Ambassador to Ghana, Her Excellency Stephanie S. Sullivan demanding formal investigations by the United States Government into the PDS scandal which has rocked the nation.

The petition signed by the Honourable Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu was personally hand delivered at the US Embassy in Accra by the Honourable Ranking Member on Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

The Minority seeks to trigger investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of the United States of America especially after a clearer picture is now emerging that the Akufo-Addo Government stands complicit with top functionaries and cronies neck deep in the putrescent sleaze. The Akufo-Addo Government, therefore, cannot be trusted to conduct thorough and independent investigations into this scandal of monumental proportions.

Besides, the Minority like most Ghanaians have grown sceptical about so-called investigations by the Akufo-Addo Administration since a countless number of these investigations only end up clearing appointees. The reports are never published and the real culprits are never identified and punished.

Furthermore, the Minority is of the firm conviction that every possible option must remain on the table in our collective sacred duty to protect a strategic national interest, the Electricity Company of Ghana, from being balkanized by a marauding greedy cabal in questionable arrangements.



We are additionally fortified by the knowledge that United States Authorities would not adopt a nonchalant attitude and allow millions of US taxpayer Dollars under the signed Compact II of the Millennium Challenge Account to be recklessly misapplied and squandered.

Kindly find attached to this release a copy of the petition in issue submitted to the US Ambassador at 11am today.

Signed,

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (MP)

Ranking Member, Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.