The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has dismissed the Minority in Parliament’s claims that the Ghana Government is not capable of conducting a thorough and independent investigation into the Power Distribution Services (PDS) concession debacle.
Mr. Nkrumah’s comment comes in the wake of the Minority’s petition to the United States Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan, demanding investigations by the US Government into the fiasco.
The Minority in a statement explained that the petition had become necessary, given that the Nana Akufo-Addo government “cannot be trusted to conduct thorough and independent investigations into this scandal of monumental proportions.”
“The Minority seeks to trigger investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of the United States of America especially after a clearer picture is now emerging that the Akufo-Addo Government stands complicit with top functionaries and cronies neck-deep in the putrescent sleaze.”
“We are additionally fortified by the knowledge that United States Authorities would not adopt a nonchalant attitude and allow millions of US taxpayer dollars under the signed Compact II of the Millennium Challenge Account to be recklessly misapplied and squandered,” the statement added.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah on Eyewitness News, however, rubbished these claims.
He indicated that the petition was needless since the American government had expressed its confidence in government’s ability to conduct a fair investigation.
“We think that this is their usual political posturing because even the American government understands that the Ghana government is capable of conducting this investigation and encourages it to do so.”
“On all networks, we have carried stories of representatives of the American government here in Ghana that have publicly said that they also look forward to the result of this investigation and encourage the Ghana government to do this investigation. So if the American government believes that the Ghana government is competent enough to carry out an investigation then you have your own members of Parliament calling out to the American government that ‘we do not believe in Ghana, come and investigate us’, we think that is unfortunate,” he said.
The PDS concession was suspended on July 30, 2019, leading to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Limited temporarily resuming power distribution responsibilities in Ghana.
There have been reports of forged documents by some partners and the Government has begun an enquiry into possible lapses in the deal.
