{"id":673329,"date":"2019-08-06T13:10:12","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T13:10:12","guid":{"rendered":" <br><div>\n            <div class=\"td-post-featured-image\"><figure><img width=\"696\" height=\"461\" class=\"entry-thumb td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/PDS-Board-Chairman-696x461.jpg\"   alt=\"\" title=\"PDS Board Chairma"},"modified":"2019-08-06T13:10:12","modified_gmt":"2019-08-06T13:10:12","slug":"pds-fights-back-adomonline-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/08\/06\/pds-fights-back-adomonline-com\/","title":{"rendered":"PDS fights back &#8211; Adomonline.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"td-post-featured-image\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"461\" class=\"entry-thumb td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/PDS-Board-Chairman-696x461.jpg\"   alt=\"\" title=\"PDS Board Chairman\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Philip Ayesu, PDS Board Chairman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The embattled power supply company, Power Distribution Services (PDS)  Ghana Limited, has dismissed any foul play in its contract to distribute power in some parts of the country.<\/p>\n<p>PDS \u2013 a local and foreign consortium \u2013 in March 2019 took over power distribution functions of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) under a  concession deal that would allow it to operate ECG facilities for power distribution for the next 20 years.<\/p>\n<p>However, four months into the agreement, Ghana government last week  suddenly applied brake on the concession agreement, suspending the  entire transaction for what it called \u201cdetection of fundamental and  material breaches of PDS\u2019s obligation in the provision of Payment  Securities (Demand Guarantees) for the transaction which has been  discovered upon further due diligence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>PDS says it\u2019s co-operating with the relevant agencies over the brouhaha saying that the transaction was above board.<\/p>\n<p>The company threw the gauntlet to any individual with adverse information to come out.<\/p>\n<p>PDS Board Chairman, Philip Ayesu, told DAILY GUIDE on Sunday that the outcome of the investigations commissioned by the government would clear them of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Ayesu was unfazed about the hullaballoo that has greeted the transaction, saying the PDS has been following the terms of the contract signed to operate ECG facilities.<\/p>\n<p>He ruled out claims that the PDS played a fast one on the government with the alleged breaches in the demand guarantee (insurance cover).<\/p>\n<p>According to him, PDS engaged its bankers \u2013 Cal Bank and Donewell  Insurance \u2013 to facilitate the insurance cover to the Qatar-based insurance company \u2013 Al Koot \u2013 for reinsurance.<\/p>\n<p>As far as the PDS board chairman was concerned, everything was done in a  transparent manner with the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) and  International Finance Corporation (IFC), the power compact transaction advisors, satisfied with the process.<\/p>\n<p>He said if the Qatari insurance company has problems with the transaction, it should deal with its brokers \u2013 Jo Australia Reinsurance  Brokers \u2013 based in Jordan.<\/p>\n<p>A document sighted by DAILY GUIDE acknowledges the execution of the demand guarantee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reinsurer indicated below (Al Koot) has executed and delivered this  Guarantee for the purpose of accepting rights granted to it and the  obligation imposed on it by this guarantee, including without  limitation, the rights and obligations contained in Sections 2 and 3  thereof,\u201d the document believed to be the contract with Al Koot  indicated.<\/p>\n<p>It was signed by Yahya Al Nouri, Reinsurance Manager and witnessed by  Fadi Danghouth, Reinsurance Officer and Mick Wahhes, General Manager.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Scapegoat<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mr Ayesu wonders how a properly signed contract can be described as fraudulent and fake and said that if Al Koot has its own internal problems, PDS should not be used as a scapegoat.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, ECG and other parties connected with the transaction carried out due diligence on the insurance guarantee and they were satisfied with the process and ruled out any underhand dealings.<\/p>\n<p>PDS, according to DAILY GUIDE sources, paid $12.2 million as insurance premium in two tranches of $8million and $4.25 million to cover ECG  assets valued at GH\u00a222billion. <\/p>\n<p>The insurance cover was to guarantee the transfer of ECG assets before the takeover.<\/p>\n<p>The government says it is dispatching investigating team to Qatar to probe the alleged breaches. <\/p>\n<p>According to Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, the investigations will take one month.<\/p>\n<p>He said the team conducting the inquiry comprises insurance experts, officials of the energy and finance ministries, officials of ECG and  MiDA. The inquiry would determine the nature of the breaches and advise on suggested next steps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy Tuesday, the team is expected in Doha-Qatar as part of the inquiry.  All interested parties are co-operating with the inquiry at this stage,\u201d  he told journalists last Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The minister stated that while the government is probing the alleged anomalies, a second-team had been tasked to continue engagement with the  American government through its agency \u2013 the Millennium Challenge  Corporation.<\/p>\n<p>He said the initial due diligence led by the transaction advisers did not detect anything wrong with it. The second level checks (this time led by the Ghana side) initially yielded a response from Al-Koot confirming the guarantee,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Frozen Accounts<br \/><\/strong><br \/>Meanwhile, PDS, in a press statement issued by its lawyers Minkah-Premo,  says due to government\u2019s inability to exercise restraint in the face of the alleged breaches, the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has frozen its accounts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHad ECG and Energy Commission, and indeed government acted with a  modicum of restraint and had they exercised patience to allow the  original plan of dispatching a team to Qatar to investigate the alleged  irregularities with the Demand Guarantees to prevail, they would have  found no basis for acting in the manner in which they have acted which  conduct has not only put the operations of PDS in grave danger but has  also needlessly dented the image and reputation of PDS.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo further compound issues, the Financial Intelligence Centre has also  swooped in on the strength of the conduct of ECG and Energy Commission,  to freeze the accounts of PDS, an act that has all but crippled the  operations of PDS and puts the supply of power to Ghanaians in the  Southern Distribution Zone in grave jeopardy,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p>PDS is assuring the public that it remains committed to its mandate under the various agreements that it has with ECG and government, and will co-operate with the appropriate authorities to ensure its rights are vindicated. <\/p>\n<p>Source: Dailyguidenetwork.com<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Philip Ayesu, PDS Board Chairman The embattled power supply company, Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited, has dismissed any foul play in its contract to distribute power in some parts of the country. PDS \u2013 a local and foreign consortium \u2013 in March 2019 took over power distribution functions of the Electricity Company of Ghana [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":673330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-673329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>PDS fights back - Adomonline.com - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/08\/06\/pds-fights-back-adomonline-com\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"PDS fights back - Adomonline.com - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Philip Ayesu, PDS Board Chairman The embattled power supply company, Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited, has dismissed any foul play in its contract to distribute power in some parts of the country. 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