The government has been urged to draw lessons from the Power Distribution Services (PDS) agreement, which was terminated in 2019, and ensure greater due diligence and transparency in future state transactions.
Three resource persons said the termination of the agreement had cost the country financially, stressing that the mistakes associated with the deal should not be repeated.
They were the Executive Director of the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Mr Benjamin Boakye; Country Manager of the Natural Resource Governance Institute, Mr Patrick Stephenson; and a lecturer at the Ghana Law School, Mr Bobby Banson.
They argued that the country could have derived significant benefits from the agreement if proper due diligence had been conducted by the relevant parties and institutions.
The resource persons also questioned the basis for the arrest of some persons involved in the agreement as the government seeks to recover monies it says are owed to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
They said the substantive issues surrounding the agreement had already been dealt with at an international arbitration tribunal, which, they noted, found no fraudulent act in relation to the terminated agreement.
The three made the comments during an online discussion on Sunday to examine who failed the country in relation to the PDS agreement.
Mr Boakye said the transaction could have been salvaged if the national interest had been focused on addressing ECG’s losses and ensuring that the company properly accounted for power supplied to it.
“We could have actually rescued the transaction if the national interest was to stop the approximately USD2 billion a year of losses and focus on making sure that ECG could sell and account for power that is actually given to them,” he said.
He described the failure of the agreement as regrettable, saying significant work had been undertaken to improve the power distribution sector through the deal.
Mr Boakye said the government’s decision to recognise PDS as a private company responsible for providing certain demand guarantees, including an insurance guarantee, was problematic.
He said while the government had the right to investigate alleged fraudulent activities, it had failed to address the underlying problems that led to the termination of the agreement.
Mr Stephenson said the state had incurred significant costs due to weak due diligence in public transactions and called for robust pre-contract engagement, greater transparency and stronger public institutions in major state agreements.
For his part, Mr Banson questioned the basis of the investigation into the alleged GH¢815 million owed ECG, saying the essential aspects of the agreement had already been resolved.
He said the matter could become one for civil rather than criminal determination and urged the state to pursue a civil suit if it sought to recover the amount.
Mr Banson also called on the Attorney-General to recuse himself from any ongoing investigation, citing his previous representation of ECG during the arbitration process and the need to avoid a potential conflict of interest.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
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