Former Deputy Minister for Energy Andrew Egyapa Mercer, has said he is not privy to information regarding the losses Ghana made in the Power Distribution Services, Ltd (PDS) deal.
Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliament to be vetted for his new role as Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, on Tuesday, March 5, Mr Mercer noted that, as the then Deputy Minister for Energy, his superior, Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh did not assign him any role that was close to the PDS deal.
“I played no role or whatsoever in PDS arrangement. No fiasco has come to my attention relating to any entity, PDS that will require my contribution resolving it,” he said.
On March 1, 2019, Ghana Power Distribution Services, Ltd. (PDS) assumed operation and management of the staff and assets of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) under a 20-year concession agreement. Private sector participation is a central reform under MCC’s Ghana Power Compact. This is critical to the long-term sustainability of related infrastructure investments and the financial recovery of the energy sector in Ghana.
The Compact comprised two tranches of funding: $308 million available upon the official start of the current Compact, and a second tranche of $190 million, which was available upon a successfully executed concession agreement, which the United States maintains occurred on March 1, 2019.
PDS was in July 2019 found to have presented invalid insurance security for the takeover of ECG assets.
The company was initially supposed to furnish the ECG with payment securities in the form of either a demand guarantee or a letter of credit issued by a bank.
The insurance guarantee came about because of difficulties experienced with raising a bank guarantee.
PDS appealed to use a demand guarantee issued by an A-rated insurance company.
PDS thus submitted the Payment Securities in the form of demand guarantees issued by a Qatari insurance firm, Al Koot Insurance and Reinsurance, which eventually became the source fraud after it was discovered that there were fabricated letters and forged signatures.
The government also noted that Al Koot did not have the capacity to engage in such a transaction based
on its net worth.
The company was also not authorised to issue demand guarantees.
United States of America on the matter noted that following the termination of the deal, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has confirmed that “the $190 million funds granted to Ghana at the March 1 [2019] transfer to the 20-year concession from ECG to PDS are no longer available.”