PDS deal to be terminated

Government has decided to terminate its concession agreement with Power Distribution Services, highly-placed sources have told myjoyonline.com.

A termination would bring to an end, PDS’ short-lived control of the country’s electricity supply.

The company was engaged in March but since its suspension on July 30, PDS had been embroiled in a corporate governance tussle among the shareholders.

A Ghanaian local consortium holds the 51% of the shares while the remaining 49% shares are for two foreign companies, Manila Electric Company Limited (Meralco), a Filipino company with 30% shares and Aenergia, an Angolan company with 19%.

Foreign player, Meralco offloaded its shares to Meridian Power Ventures Ltd, a letter to a key transaction advisor, the US-backed Millenium Development Authority (MiDA) confirmed.

The opposition sees the offloading of Meralco’s shares as evidence of clandestine attempts by the government to loot the assets of Electricity Company of Ghana taken over by PDS.

PDS was suspended after the government said it suspected the agreement was tainted with fraud.

The transaction advisor, MiDA, set up an investigative body into the allegations and cleared PDS of fraud.

Despite the clearance in August, PDS remained suspended and government has now taken a decision to cancel the agreement, sources have maintained.

The Energy minister John Peter Amewu however would not confirm the move.

Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com