PDS: Akufo-Addo’s nonchalance, naked thievery & greedy cronies – NDC

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has once again revisited the controversial suspension of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Concession Agreement with Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana, accusing the current administration of inaction over what the former describes as the “biggest scams ever perpetrated against the Ghanaian people by any government in Ghana’s history.”

The opposition party slammed the NPP government for allowing “perpetrators of the PDS scam” to walk freely about without subjecting them to criminal prosecutions “despite the fact that government itself described the transaction as fraudulent”.

READ: FULL TEXT: NDC demands prosecution of ECG-PDS culprits

Background

In 2017, after a protracted re-negotiations with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the original arrangements to give 80 per cent of the ECG’s assets to foreigners were changed to a 51 per cent ownership by Ghanaians and 49 per cent to foreigners.

This new arrangement required the original foreign bidders to find a local Ghanaian consortium who was to take up the 51 per cent of their shareholding to make their bid whole.

Manila Electric Company Limited (Meralco) who was one of the original foreign bidders to accept the new arrangements struck an accord with Mr. Philip Asare Kwame Ayesu, a strategist and a serial entrepreneur and chairman of TG Energy Solutions to put together a strong local Ghanaian team in order to create the Meralco Consortium that would present an unassailable bid to the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA).

“Local” Consortium

Mr. Ayesu is said to have recognised this challenge as a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase the Ghanaian entrepreneurial drive and enable him to leave a lasting legacy that would prove that Ghanaians can do it.

He reportedly took up the challenge to find the Ghanaian team with the right pedigree of complementary attributes that would provide the requisite technical and financial credentials for the bid.

Thus, leading to the formation of the local Ghanaian consortium made up of TG Energy Solutions Limited (TG), a Lead Local Consortium Sponsor with 18 per cent, Santa Baron Ventures Limited (Santa), a Local Technical Lead with 13 per cent, GTS Engineering Services Limited (GTS), a Local Financial Lead 10 per cent and TBK Ghana Limited (TBK), a Local Financial Sponsor with 10 per cent.

Unified Ghanaian Ownership

However, in a letter dated March 27, 2019, signed by the Minister of Finance Mr Ken Ofori-Atta and addressed to Lawyer Akoto Ampaw, Chairman of the Negotiation Committee for the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Private Sector Participation (PSP), the Minister of Finance indicated that TG Energy Solutions’ shares had increased to 28 per cent as part of efforts to secure and safeguard Ghanaian ownership of PDS.

The Finance Minister’s letter explained that the move was aimed at ensuring and safeguarding Ghanaian ownership of PDS and to ensure that control of PDS was secured with Ghanaians in a “unified manner.”

The letter said the Ministry of Finance requires that the Ghanaian Shareholding was consolidated and held by a single, newly incorporated, Ghanaian entity (the SPV – special purpose vehicle) in which the Initial Ghanaian Shareholders (and or any other Ghanaian investors from time to time would hold shares.

Therefore, the initial Ghanaian Shareholders would be required to transfer their respective shareholdings in PDS to the SPV, a structure which was to preserve Ghanaian control of PDS in the SPV (as opposed to three separate entities as is currently the case) and ensure that 51 per cent shares in PDS was always held by a Ghanaian entity.

Suspension

Shockingly, Government, somewhere in July 2019, announced that it has through the Ministry of Finance and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Limited suspended the concession agreement with PDS with immediate effect.

This followed what government termed as 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 news led to speculations that the government did not do due diligence on the shareholders and the demand guarantees they presented.

PDS Inferno Caboodle

But the NDC believes the attempt by the Finance Ministry “to restructure the shareholding of PDS after the deal was sealed, with the aim of diluting and appropriating the shares of the original shareholders for other cronies of President Akufo-Addo, is what lit the spark for the whole PDS inferno”.

“As some of you may be aware, the original Ghanaian shareholders rebelled and refused to participate in this charade. It is this defiance that outraged the Akufo-Addo faction and occasioned the suspension and subsequent cancelation of the PDS Concession,” the largest opposition party claimed.

Nonchalant Posture, Naked Thievery, Greed & Avarice!

National Communication Officer of the NDC, Mr Sammy Gyamfi, at a press conference in Accra on Monday, August 10, 2020, said it is “glaringly clear that President Akufo-Addo has no intention” of getting to the bottom of the matter; which is unsurprising to them.

“We in the NDC, are not in the least surprised at the nonchalant posture of President Akufo-Addo on this matter. We have always known that President Akufo-Addo can neither be trusted to punish the perpetrators nor ensure that monies collected by PDS are refunded to the state because of he and his cronies are complicit and neck-deep In the scam.

“Ladies and gentlemen, never in the history of Ghana have we seen this level of corruption and naked thievery like we are witnessing under the reign of President Akufo-Addo in the last three (3) and half years. Despite promising to protect the public purse, President Akufo Addo has supervised the biggest rape of the public pursue since he took office in 2017…

“The likes of Vice-President Dr. Bawumia, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and the Eson-Benjamin-led MiDA who aided and facilitated this scam which has occasioned the nation huge financial losses, have not been held to account for the roles they individually and jointly played in the scam.

“Also, cronies of the President such as Mr. Philip Ayensu, an appointee of President Akufo Addo on the NCA Board, who was the Chairman of PDS and the Directors of the local partners in the company, who perpetrated what government itself alleges to be fraud on the people of Ghana, have all been left off the hook.

“Even more bizarre and scandalous is the fact that till date, PDS, the Company made up of friends and cronies of President Akufo-Addo, who were gifted the GHS20 billion assets of ECG on the basis of a fraudulent Insurance Guarantee, and operated same for more than seven (7) months, have not been made to account for the over GHS1.5 billion they collected from electricity consumers during the period,” he stated.

The NDC National officer further posited that, “as a result of the greed and avarice of President Akufo-Addo and his corrupt family and friends cabal”, the state has lost nearly a whopping US$2 billion.

“It is instructive to note, that this “fraudulent” entity called PDS collected over GHS1.5 billion from electricity consumers in the form electricity bills from 1st March, 2019 to 18th October, 2019 when the concession agreement was in force. As a matter of fact, it was part of these monies, that is about US$11.25 million that PDS used to finance the Insurance Guarantee from the Qatar-based Reinsurance company, Alkoot which was later found to be fraudulent and invalid.

“More importantly, the cancelation of the PDS concession, occasioned the abrupt termination of the whole MCC Ghana Power Compact by the US government. Consequently, the US government withdrew the second tranche amount of US$190 million (equivalent to GH10 billion) it had allotted to Ghana for the improvement of the power sector of the country under the Power Compact. Overall, Ghana has lost about US$1.8 billion as a result of the greed and avarice of President Akufo-Addo and his corrupt family and friends cabal, who sought to appropriate the GHS20 billion assets of ECG for themselves,” Sammy Gyamfi asserted.

Source: Peace FM