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Opinions of Thursday, 13 August 2020

Columnist: Kwaku Boateng

PDS deal is not just a corruption scandal

Logo of PDS Logo of PDS

Ghana has come of age. I am within my 5th decade of age. Throughout my few but experiential years as an adult in this country, I have witnessed 6 (six) Presidents. Jerry John Rawlings, Limann, Kufour, Atta -Mills, John Dramani Mahama and currently Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Under each of these leaders, whether real or perceived, a series of corruption issues have been levelled against them.

However, none of the corruption allegations under the past Presidents come close to the Akuffo Addo’s PDS scandal in terms of scale, structure, boldness, determination, notoriety and public disregard. In comparison with previous allegations which were mostly related to misappropriation and misapplication of State funds and resources, this PDS case is State officials looking Ghanaians in the face, changed Management of ECG, brought their own squad of Management to run the Company for about 7 months and took away the booty.

In fact, the PDS deal is not just a corruption scandal. It is direct stealing, tantamount to a well-orchestrated armed robbery. It’s typically armed robbers entering ECG at gunpoint for ECG to serve the public from 8 am to 5 pm each day for 7 months and the robbers taking the booty, leaving nothing for ECG and Ghanaians.

If this is a scandal, then it’s the biggest scandal ever to hit our country. If it’s robbery, then it’s the largest robbery ever to hit the nation Ghana.

Just a few years back, there was a bus branding scandal that was valued at about 3 million dollars. OCCUPY GHANA was loud and played a very active and vibrant role that demonstrated they really possessed a national occupational might, as their name suggests. It was very impressive.

Now, if the figures and revenue we are told the ECG makes monthly ( 200 million Cedis) is anything to go by, then the 7 months of PDS take over of ECG management had an average of 1.4million Cedis accrued to them. Where is PDS now? Where is the money that accrued to them?

Clearly, the managers of this nation led by Mr Akuffo Addo enabled such illegal execution to be perpetrated on Ghanaians.

Given the alacrity with which OCCUPY GHANA executed its action with regards to the Bus Branding a few years ago, I believe similar action by OCCUPY GHANA today, will get the Government and it’s officials tell Ghanaians details of this contemptible and nasty deal.

Or OCCUPY GHANA is gone into hibernation? I hope not. But if they have, then they should wake up from their slumber. We need them very urgently now more than ever before.

Our economic management authorities need to come out to explain or deny the allegations.