General News of Wednesday, 23 October 2019

Source: 3news.com

CPP offers to help Akufo-Addo gov’t out of PDS/ECG standoff

File photo of CPP logo File photo of CPP logo

The Convention People’s Party (CPP) says it is “ready and willing” to offer professionals who are knowledgeable, dedicated and courageous to help the government resolve the crisis that has led to the termination of the concession agreement with Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited.

The party said it is also ready and willing to help with “any other governance issue” if “the Akufo-Addo-led administration is willing to cooperate and accept a genuine helping hand in the interest of the state”.

This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday, October 22 by the party’s Acting General Secretary, James Kwabena Bomfeh Jnr.

The statement was on the party’s take on the termination of the PDS deal.

According to the party, despite the intention of government to cancel the deal, it is “timid” to renegotiate the whole Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) compact.

The CPP pointed out in the statement that the introduction of PDS is a symptom of losing the country’s sovereignty since the overthrow of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah in a 1966 coup d’etat, which projected the private sector as the engine of growth.

“Indeed, history is replete with a preponderance of examples where divestiture or private sector participation in state-owned corporations or assets have proved to be a disaster.”

It said the move has always been used by the Global North to milk the Global South’s sacred cow dry.

CPP is laying the blame of the PDS fiasco at the doorstep of the government though it said the decision to abrogate the contract is “better late than never”.

“We do know however that the whole essence of the intelligence act is pre-emptive rather than reactive or curative.

“Ghana is capable of managing the energy sector from generation to distribution to management of revenue mobilization. Let the government rise above petty partisan cloaks and appoint the right calibre of devoted, willing, sincere, hardworking and selfless citizens of this republic to superintend the sector.”