The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has asked Ghanaians not to trust President Nana Akufo-Addo, his deputy Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as well as Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to fix the PDS debacle since, in the view of the General Secretary of the party, they have “too much corruption in their DNA”.

Addressing the press on Monday, 21 October 2019, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia said: “Ofori-Atta proposes the use of a restrictive tendering process to replace PDS; this is laughable, and I want to say that this is not an option that Ghanaians and the MCC should even consider… We are interested in protecting the interest of Ghana and they are not.

“Ghanaians should never trust the very same Ofori-Atta, Keli Gadzekpo, Dr Bawumia and President Akufo-Addo who caused this PDS mess to do a thorough job; there is too much corruption in their DNA”, he said.

In a letter announcing the termination of the less-than-a-year concession agreement with Power Distribution Service to distribute power in Ghana, the Finance Minister said a new partner would be selected through a restrictive tendering process.

“While recognising the prerogative of the MCC in the determination of a particular procurement method in the selection of a PSP, in view of the limited time (approximately two years) until the expiration of the Compact II Programme, Ghana hereby recommends the adoption by the MCC/MiDA of a restricted tender process to replace PDS”, Mr Ofori-Atta’s letter said, adding: “This restricted tender process shall be undertaken timeously by fast-tracking some of the processes without compromising the integrity and transparency of the procurement processes”.

However, the opposition and civil society groups such as the IES have kicked against it.

A “restrictive tender promotes corruption and cronyism, kills transparency, leads to high cost of service arrangement, does not provide value-for-money, and does not give wider alternatives to choose the best company to perform”, the IES said in a statement.

In the view of the opposition NDC, the “clear mess created by the PDS deal” was done with “apparent corrupt motives”. “The NDC demands the following; the immediate dissolution of MiDA board and the Gadzepo-led ECG Board. They have failed the nation and proven to be undeserving of the critical mandate which has been entrusted into their care by Ghanaians.”

“They have proven to be lucky in the service of a greedy cabal of family and friends, hell-bent on appropriating a critical national asset like ECG. Ghana deserves better. We demand an immediate forensic audit of the accounts of PDS by an internationally reputable firm and the refund of all monies which have accrued or being collected by them from power consumers since 1st March 2019.”

In his latest letter, Ken Ofori Atta proposes the use of a restrictive tendering process to replace PDS. This is laughable and we want to say that it is not an option that Ghanaians should even consider.”

“We have already heard various communicators appealing to our nationalist instinct to protect the interest of Ghana. Let those communicators advise the NPP government to come around to protect the interest of Ghana because we are in the interest of protecting the interest of Ghana but they are not.”