PDS board to undergo immediate restructuring

An emergency board meeting has been called by the foreign shareholders of the Power Distribution Services Ghana Limited in order to address issues that ultimately culminated in the suspension of the concession agreement with the government of Ghana.

A letter sighted by 3news.com said the meeting will be held on Friday, October 18.

Dated Monday, October 14, the letter was jointly signed by Ernio Acuna of Meridian Power Ventures (MEIRDIAN), who own 30 per cent shares in PDS, and Jorge Morgado of Aenergy, who own 19 per cent.

It was addressed to the Chairperson of Millennium Development Authority (MDA), Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu.

The concession agreement between PDS and the government to take over assets of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) was suspended as a result of anomalies with the demand guarantees.

An investigative team was put together by government to look into the whole deal.

The team later found PDS of no wrongdoing despite not reinstating it in the management of the power-distribution services.

“Since the negotiation for the turn-over of the ECG assets and facilities after the PDS Consortium was declared the preferred bidder in the ECG concession, there had been several issues which have arisen in connection with the governance and management of ECG Concession as well as the board of PDS which unfortunately had not been fully addressed, including the prolonged suspension of the license of PDS and the ECg Concession and the issue on the Demand Guarantee,” the letter to Prof Ntiamoa-Baidu stated.

“Any further delay in the resolution of these issues will be prejudicial to the best interest of all stakeholders, specially the electricity consumers of Ghana.”

The letter assured of acting with dispatch to resolve the issues in the meeting “which we trust would enable the immediate restructuring of the PDS Board and Management towards a more effective governance structure and management”.

He called for the support of MiDA in order to win back “the trust and confidence of the government of Ghana and show our capability to fulfill what we have set out to do for the development of the electricity distribution services for the benefit of the good people of Ghana”.

Meanwhile, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is questioning the share of MERIDIAN in PDS.

According to its General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the only foreign shareholders known were Meralco.

Therefore, it is surprising for two new companies to emerge as shareholders, he told journalists in Accra.

Mr Asiedu Nketia is therefore asking the Akufo-Addo government to explain what led to the new development.