PDS scandal: Probe 'marauding greedy cabal' – Minority petitions U.S. government

The Minority in Parliament has petitioned the United States Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan, demanding a formal investigation by the United States government into the Power Distribution Services (PDS) scandal which has rocked Ghana’s energy sector.

The petition signed by Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, was personally hand-delivered to the U.S. Embassy in Accra on Wednesday, 14 August 2019, by the Ranking Member of Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

The Minority seeks to trigger an investigation 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”.

A press release by Mr Ablakwa underscored: “The Akufo-Addo government, therefore, cannot be trusted to conduct thorough and independent investigations into this scandal of monumental proportions”.

It added: “Besides, the Minority, like most Ghanaians, has 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 balkanised 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 U.S. taxpayer dollars under the signed Compact II of the Millennium Challenge Account to be recklessly misapplied and squandered”.

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 has 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”.