The government of Ghana has suspended its concession agreement with Power Distribution Services (PDS) with “immediate effect”, Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has announced.
“The decision follows 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 minister said in a statement on Tuesday.
PDS took over the operations and management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) on Friday, March 1, 2019 after winning a bid to manage the operations of ECG for 20 years.
But the statement suspending the agreement explained that the “Demand Guarantees were key prerequisites for the lease of assets on 1st March, 2019 to secure the assets that were transferred to the concessionaire”.
The statement said the government is conducting a full enquiry into the matter, which outcome will inform its next course of action.
“Government has taken steps to ensure the distribution, billing and payment services continue uninterrupted,” it said.
The general public and customers have also been assured that the development will not interfere with the distribution of electricity services.
Electricity Company of Ghana is expected to take charge of the management of the utility service provider.
Source: 3news.com | Ghana