Former Minister for Communications, Edward Omane Boamah, has in a short tweet made the case for state ownership of key utilities.
He suggests in the tweet that the controversy that has hit the concessionaire agreement between Power Distribution Services (PDS) and the government is proof that state ownership of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is better.
“The PDS scandal is another testimony to the glory of both state ownership and management,” he stated in the tweet.
Government suspended PDS’ management of electricity alleging that the private company has hatched a plan to deceive the state.
Government has explained that documents presented by PDS as a guarantee for the takeover of the power retailing and distribution company were forged.
Energy Minister, Peter Amewu, has also said the documents indicated that a company in Qatar has guaranteed for PDS but the management of that company has told the government the document is not authentic.
PDS, meanwhile, insists it has done nothing wrong and has promised to respond to the suspension of the power concession agreement appropriately in due time.
Dr Omane Boamah added in his tweet that, “I believe there are serious Ghanaians who can manage ECG if proper pay for performance measures are instituted.”
The PDS scandal is another testimony to the glory of both state ownership & management. I believe there are serious Ghanaians who can manage ECG if proper pay for performance measures are instituted.
— Edward Omane Boamah (@eomaneboamah) August 13, 2019
Meanwhile, PDS is still providing all activities related to electricity retail as an interim arrangement.
The joint statement by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and PDS said the interim arrangement is “to ensure that there is no disruption of power supply and service delivery” to customers.
A government delegation has gone to Dubai to probe the authenticity of the PDS guarantee.