The defunct Power Distribution Services (PDS) has reportedly collected up to US$ 1.5 billion in revenues since it fraudulently secured the management contract of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in February this year.
Alex Mould, an energy and finance expert and the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has suggested that the Akufo Addo administration should immediately institute a probe into the whereabouts of the amount.
“I suggest a full audit, and perhaps even forensic, by a company agreed to by a bi-partisan Parliament to investigate this, as well as the almost $1.5bn that has been collected since PDS’s inception as a PSP and the concessionaire of ECG,” Mr. Mould suggested on his social media wall on Sunday, shortly after the government announced that it was cancelling the scandalous PDS deal.
Following forensic reports showing that the PDS deal was fraudulently acquired, the Akufo Addo administration on the midnight of November 19, 2019, decided to finally terminate the PDS deal. This comes after it was suspended in July 2019.
Despite the suspension, PDS was allowed to continue to collect revenues from electricity consumers, using ECG assets. This amount has reportedly accrued in excess of US$ 1.5 billion which experts are calling for a trace on before it disappears with the terminated deal.
Already, PDS an amount of US$ 12 million collected from Ghanaian electricity consumers used to stand in as part of the premium needed to secure guarantee to finalise the takeover the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) had fizzled into thin air. The amount which was lodged at CAL Bank and mean for their phoney reinsurance company in Qatar-Al Koot cannot be traced, Myjoyonline reported in August 2019.
Also, unconfirmed reports picked up by Whatsup News from insiders shows that before it was put on the market for private concessionaires, ECG’s funds were handled by Databank, a company owned by the Chairman of the ECG, Keli Gadzekpo and the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta. Both of these men are key players in the procedures set up for the Private Sector Participation (PSP) of ECG.
In the PDS deal, the United States Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) as part of its latest compact with Ghana was pledged US$ 500 million for private management of ECG. The contract required a foreign company and local partner who would collectively match the US funds with an additional US$ 490 million.
A Filipino Energy Company called Meralco won the contract as the foreign interest, while three Ghanaian companies made up the local component. The three companies are: Three Ghanaian businesses own 51% majority shares in the PDS, namely: GTS Power Limited has 10%, Santa Power Limited has 13% and TG Energy Solutions Limited has 28%.
These local companies are allegedly fronts used by friends and cronies of the Akufo Addo administration to secure for themselves, the over GHC 20 billion assets of ECG.
Probing by both independent auditors and an enquiry team set up by the government showed that these companies did not bring a dime onto the table. The payment guarantee they secured from a Qatar based reinsurance company was found out to have been procured fraudulently. This forced the final termination of the PDS deal, as the government hints that the next concessionaire would be picked through a restrictive tender. This has raised serious suspicions about the true motive of the Akufo Addo administration for the next round of management contract for ECG after the botched PDS one.