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General News on Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2019-07-31
CAPE is concerned about the gross negligence that led to the awarding of the concession
The African Energy Policy Center (ACEP) has criticized the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) for what it describes as a gross negligence in awarding the concession agreement to Power Distribution Services (PDS).
The MiDA was created to oversee, manage and implement Millennium Challenge Account programs for poverty alleviation through economic growth, as outlined in each agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
The financial and operational recovery of the GEC was among the various projects and programs that MiDA was to implement. That's what they did, which led to the awarding of the Ghana Electricity Corporation's (ECG) concession to PDS.
But it was found that the demand guarantees submitted by PDS could have been obtained fraudulently.
The concession has been suspended and investigations are ongoing on how these violations have been committed.
ACEP believes that MiDA did not act diligently in managing the concession in which PDS had taken over the services of the Ghana Electricity Company (ECG).
Energy Minister John Peter Amewu said the government had been forced to sign the agreement
Speaking at a press conference in Accra, ACEP said the MiDA had folded the procedures in place to allow the consortium to win the bid, even though it was not enough. he did not fulfill the conditions.
The executive director of the energy think tank, Ben Boakye, said: "ACEP is deeply concerned about the level of neglect that has led to the current situation.
"Indeed, the best conclusion anyone can draw is that it represents the summary of the MiDA posture leading to the grant of the concession," he said.
Mr. Boakye added that while CAPE supported private sector participation in electricity distribution, the process that began with extensive stakeholder consultations had gone into secrecy.
ACEP noticed this and tried to ask MiDA to point out "the dangerous path taken by MiDA", but this proved futile.
All the ACEP warnings, he said, have been ignored and although concerns have been expressed about the quality of the process whereby the Philippine-based consortium, Meralco Consortium – the parent company of PDS – won the call for bids without competition, although it does not meet the original requirement. have 51% local content.
"ACEP also questioned the quality of the companies that formed the PDS consortium to take back the ECG badets. Apart from Meralco, the other parts of the consortium were not known, which was a sufficient basis for MiDA to thoroughly check the background of the companies and ensure that they have at least the necessary financial capacity. to badume the business with a cash flow. $ 4 billion. "
While the matter was under investigation, ACEP believed that if the MiDA and its trading advisers, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), had shown any seriousness and put Ghana in the forefront, they would have found the suspect document.
In the event that the allegations against PDS prove true, ACEP, who praised the government for its quick reaction to protect the public purse, said the MiDA should not be allowed to exercise foresight.
The think tank wants the immediate ban of MiDA leaders to prevent any falsification of evidence that may be necessary to support the case of the state.
"Cease with immediate effect IFC's notice of the transaction. Indeed, the IFC has proved incapable of defending the interests of its clients; MiDA and Government of Ghana.
"Immediately check the track record of beneficial owners of local partners of the PDS," Boakye said.
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