President John Dramani Mahama has weighed on the controversy surrounding the failed Power Distribution Services (PDS) concession, stressing that the initiative itself was not inherently flawed but was mismanaged and compromised by personal interests.

Reflecting on the lessons from the PDS experience, he said, “PDS was not a bad thing, it is just that it was handled wrongly and many people had personal interest in PDS and that’s why it failed.”

According to the President, the mismanagement of the project, rather than the concept of private sector involvement in public utilities, was the main reason the concession collapsed.

Mahama further highlighted the potential benefits of involving the private sector in utility services, pointing to examples where efficiency and reliability have improved.

He cited the case of Enclave Power, which purchases bulk electricity from the national utility and distributes it within the free zones enclave, achieving a 99% collection rate and uninterrupted power supply.

Government welcomes arbitration ruling in PDS-ECG dispute

“And the lights are always on in the industrial enclave. And so the industries there have a high ratio of power and they don’t see blackouts the way other places do,” he said, emphasizing that private sector participation could enhance not only electricity delivery but also water services, demonstrating the broader value of strategic partnerships between public and private entities.

The PDS dispute arose after the Government of Ghana terminated the concession, which was part of the country’s second Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, following irregularities discovered in the company’s financial guarantees.

The case went to the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), which dismissed all claims filed by PDS against the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), concluding that the Demand Guarantees issued were void from the outset.

In the wake of the arbitration ruling, the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition has announced that steps are now being taken to recover any funds owed to ECG and the State, as part of ongoing efforts to safeguard public resources and strengthen accountability.

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