The Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy has expressed shock at government’s suspension of the concession agreement that replaced the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) with Power Distribution Service (PDS) Ghana.
Government on July 30 said it had “fundamental and material breaches of PDS’ obligation in the provision of Payment Securities (Demand Guarantees)” for the transaction based on which suspended the agreement with immediate effect.
It explained the ‘Demand Guarantees’ were key prerequisites for the lease of assets of ECG on 1st March, 2019 to secure the assets that were transferred to the concessionaire.
A full scale enquiry into the matter is currently being conducted by the government which will inform the next course of action against the PDS.
Commenting on the development, Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi, said they were to meet stakeholders in the power sector to find out why PDS could not fulfill the condition precedence part of the agreement only to hear of the suspension on Tuesday.
“The Committee should have met the stakeholders. We have invited the Energy Ministry, MiDA, Energy Commission and PDS over the agreement. We have written to the Energy Ministry about two weeks ago but something happened and they could not honour the invitation,” said.
Mr. Gyamfi told Bright Asempa, host of Yen Sempa on Onua FM Wednesday that the government he has started inquiring about what transpired and “if there is something that we need to do to help, we shall do it but it will not affect power supply in the country”.
Due diligence
On whether the Mines and Energy Committee carried out due diligence on the agreement, Mr. Gyamfi responded in the affirmative but said “we needed to do further deliberations on the condition precedence. That is why we invited them but it could not come on”.
“…it will be difficult to determine why they [PDS] could not meet the condition precedence” he said.
Deputy Ranking Member for Mines and Energy Committee, Ms Della Adjoa Sowah, said the Minority in Parliament warned against the agreement but the Majority used their numbers to pass the agreement.
“I am not surprised at all that not too long after the agreement, they have realized it’s another mistake of the NPP because we raised those concerns and they have realized what we said was true”.
She said when the agreement came before parliament the minority raised the issue of condition precedence, claiming “We said it must be met. How can you hand over your assets to such a novice?”
“They (PDS) don’t have an office. Electricity in general is a special filed. You need s special skills but PDS had no knowledge about electricity and it is another mistake. It is another serious mistake”.
By Kweku Antwi-Otoo|3news.com|Ghana