ECG/PDS agreement smells bad; review it – Jinapor writes to Akufo-Addo

A National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Yapei/Kusawgu, John Jinapor, has sent a note to the seat of government, Jubilee House, requesting the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to immediately review the contractual agreement between the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Power Distribution Services (PDS).

The ECG/PDS agreement in its current form, according to the former Deputy Minister, Energy and Petroleum, is very bad and will not inure to the benefit of Ghanaians.

A very critical area of utmost concern that Jinapor wants the President to critically review, is the Ghanaian partnership in the Meralco Consortium deal.

He suspects the Ghanaian companies in the Meralco Consortium were selected under “very suspicious and clandestine processes” and the earlier the President moves to save the situation, the better.

In a statement authored by hi which has since gone viral on social media, Jinapor said the Ghanaian partnership in the Meralco Consortium do not have the technical expertise and financial capacity in the energy sector to manage ECG, a state owned asset worth GH?22billion.

This, he noted, is highly inimical to the aspirations of Ghana’s power sector goals.

For example, Jinapor alleged in his write up that one of the local shareholders, TG Energy Solutions Ghana, which has 18% shares in the Consortium of investors, making it the largest Ghanaian shareholder in the transaction, has a questionable record as far as the energy sector is concerned.

He further alleged that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Andrew Agyapa Mercer and Lawyer Sophia Kokor of Danquah Institute, an advocacy group aligned to the elephant family, are all Directors of TG Energy Solutions Ghana.

That notwithstanding, one Mr. Philip Ayesu, owner of X Men Barber Shop, is allegedly the main shareholder of TG Energy Solutions Ghana.

“My detailed checks show that this company lacks the technical expertise and financial capacity in the energy sector to manage a critical State-owned company such as the ECG with an asset value of GH?22 billion and a workforce of more than 6,000. It is curious, mind-boggling and alarming to note that at the time of filing documents, TG Energy Solutions had no office or physical location as per the documents presented to the committee by the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA). How a company that has no office address was able to obtain the highest shares in PDS defies logic and reasoning”, he noted.



He added “It therefore came as no surprise that the scheduled takeover of 1st February was postponed by MiDA due to what they described as lapses that needed to be clarified. It is curious to note that at the time of announcing what MiDA describes as a “preferred bidder” by Pamela Djamson-Tettey, Director, Communication Outreach at MiDA, all Tier One and Two companies had pulled out following the alteration of the bid process. As if this shameful episode was not enough, BXC Consortium was also disqualified by MiDA, making Meralco Consortium, a Tier three company from Philippines, the sole company left in such a major project. Even more bizarre is the fact that, the so-called Ghanaian companies were selected under very suspicious and clandestine processes long after Meralco had participated as a sole entity”.

Another critical issue worth noting, according to Jinapor, are some major infractions in relation to some critical clauses in the Agreement.

For example, he said Section 2.23(g) of the Agreement which states that “Without limiting the rights of ECG pursuant to this Section 2.23, ECG and the Company shall, prior to the Transfer Date, jointly prepare an ECG monitoring schedule and protocol consistent with this Section 2.23”, has been breached.

He faulted President Akufo-Addo for failing to ensure that the Monitoring Schedule and Protocol Agreement which is key to ensure that the assets of ECG are monitored during the concession period was not executed.

“By this unfortunate omission, ECG will not be in a position to ensure that its assets are well managed and maintained by PDS”, he observed.



He therefore wants the public to demand for full disclosure of the Performance Guarantee issued by PDS which was a critical condition precedent for takeover of ECG assets.

Jinapor also wants the public to demand for the details of the guarantee supposedly issued by PDS for scrutiny, believing that “this key requirement was not properly executed”.

“As it stands, the concession in its current state will certainly not serve the interest of Ghanaians. The concession, if left in its current state, has the potential of destabilizing the whole energy sector with very serious consequences including rising cost of power and crippling of power generation companies. Therefore, this concession agreement must be reviewed immediately”, he posited.