PDS did nothing illegal - Chairman

Chairman of the Power Distribution Service (PDS), Mr Philip Ayesu says government's proposed 30-day investigation into the suspension of the power distribution concession agreement would help the company clear its name of any wrongdoing.

PDS after the government suspended the concession agreement last week insisted that it had acted in good faith and had not engaged in any ‘fraudulent’ deal as Ghanaians had been made to believe, and was thus ready to clear its name.

Chairman of PDS, Mr. Philip Ayesu, speaking to Daily Graphic said: “PDS has not done anything illegal and the investigations will help us clear our name,”

He said he was optimistic that the commitment being showed by the PDS would assist the government in the early resolution of the dispute.

The PDS Board chairman further indicated that the board had held an emergency meeting to discuss its plan and what it could do to ensure that there was a quick resolution of the issue.

As part of its commitment to resolve the impasse, PDS has also given an assurance that it will cooperate with all stakeholders in ensuring that power supply is not interrupted, pending the determination of the issues relating to the insurance company, AlKoot’s fraud claim made to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Energy Commission’s alleged “unlawful acts” and restoration of normalcy as provided by the three Concession Agreements relating to the PDS Concession.

Suspension

The government has on Tuesday suspended its concession agreement with the Power Distribution Services (PDS) who were the distributors of electricity in Ghana.

This moves means that the Electricity Company of Ghana will once again take full control of power distribution.

The decision according to the government was taken following the detection of fundamental and material breaches of PDS’ obligation in the provision of Payment Securities (Demand Guarantees) which was discovered upon “further due diligence.”

“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,” a statement signed by the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah stated.

Despite the action, the statement clarified that “The general public and customers are assured that this development will not interfere with the distribution of electricity services to customers.”

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