PDS deal 'fraudulent'; prosecute offenders – Minority

The Minority in Ghana’s legislature has called for the prosecution of all those behind the “fraudulent” agreement signed between the Power Distribution Services (PDS) Limited and the government of Ghana, in relation to the takeover of Ghana’s national power supply by the private firm from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

Mr John Jinapor, Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu and a former Deputy Minister of Power, at a press conference in Accra on Thursday, 1 August 2019, called on the government to terminate the contract immediately.

“Terminate the Concession Agreement with immediate effect,” he said.

He added: “Identify and prosecute those responsible for the fraudulent guarantee as confirmed by the Minister of Energy; ensure a full refund of all monies appropriated by PDS through this fraudulent scheme; dissolve the current ECG Board and appoint a competent non-partisan board; and restructure the current management of ECG and ensure they sign performance bonds with management for the efficient supply of power to Ghanaians.”

The government of Ghana recently suspended its concession agreement with PDS.

The decision was communicated via a press release by Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah on Tuesday, 30 July 2019.

The statement said the action to put the agreement on hold was necessitated by “the detection of fundamental and material breaches of PDS’ obligation in the provision of Payment Securities (Demand Guarantees) for the transaction which have been discovered upon further due diligence”.

The government said a full probe has been initiated into the agreement and steps have been taken to ensure that “distribution, billing and payment services continue uninterrupted”.