A former Minister of Education, Betty Mould-Iddrisu has urged the President to immediately crack the whip on all ministers of state who were involved in the now suspended Power Distribution Services (PDS) deal in order to step aside for proper investigation to be conducted in the matter.
“The best way to uncover details of the deal is to conduct a forensic audit into the processes that led to the award of the contract and not the investigation ordered by the government,” she indicated.
PDS took over the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) on March 1 after its major shareholder Meralco Consortium from the Philippines won the Millennium Challenge Power Compact Two from the U.S.A.
However, four months after the takeover, the government suspended the contract after 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”.
Mrs Mould-Iddrisu, who was also a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, pointed out that “this affects every part of our lives and you say you didn’t do due diligence, excuse me, these are basic issues that should have been handled, I don’t think the presidential call for investigation is going to take us anywhere.
“There should be forensic audit to uncover what actually happened, I will like our government to explain to us what happened because in other places people would have resigned, all ministers involved should step aside and let there be proper investigation,” she riposted.
Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, a former United Nations adviser on governance, has charged the president to name and punish officials in his government who are culpable in the failed PDS-ECG concession deal since the suspension of the deal by the government four months was an indication of shoddy work done.
“If the government has had the courage to suspend the contract then it should have that same courage to mention those behind the contract and let them face the law, those who are culpable should be subjected to investigation and the necessary action taken after the investigation,” he stressed.
The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) also called for the immediate interdiction of the leadership of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), the implementing agency for the nation’s power compact. -starrfmonline.com
