PDS saga: Confusion on how to fleece Ghana led to termination – Manteaw

The Chairman of the Public Interest Accountability Committee, Dr. Steve Manteaw, has stated that he suspects the PDS deal was cancelled because of confusion among parties who attempted to fleece the state.

The Government of Ghana last weekend announced that it can no longer continue with the concession arrangement with PDS.

“On the strength of all the information gathered about the purported Demand Guarantees provided by PDS as security for the transfer, the Government of Ghana is of the firm opinion that there is no valid Payment Security. Al Koot has clearly denounced and repudiated the instruments and expressed a clear intention not to be bound by any present or future obligation arising out of same.

“It is quite apparent that the alleged signatory of the purported Demand Guarantees, Yahaya Al Nouri, was not duly authorised by Al Koot to execute same according to the company’s Delegation of Authority instrument. The product was also not one of the company’s product lines.”

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) asked the Ghana government, through the Finance Minister, to reinstate PDS to their original position as managers of Ghana’s power sector before the contract was terminated by Ghana.

A letter from MCC to the finance minister sighted by Starr News said the reinstatement of PDS is a condition under which Ghana can attract the remaining 190 million dollars of the compact money meant to enhance the operations and distribution of power in the country.

“Formerly announce the reinstatement of the PDS’ concession rights under the transaction agreement,” it said.

Speaking on the Morning Starr on Tuesday, 22 October 2019, Dr. Manteaw told host Francis Abban that the new deal must be very transparent so the earlier shareholders do not hijack the deal and milk the state.

“The reason we are where are today is because the parties who had conspired to shortchange this country could not agree on how to share the booty.

“I see a grand design to terminate this concession, get rid of those difficult elements within the Ghanaian shareholding partners and then recreate a new vehicle and then bring the cronies and then share the booty.”