General News of Sunday, 16 August 2020

Source: peacefmonline.com

PDS Scandal: 'It’s a legitimate line of enquiry' - Baako backs NDC calls for accountability

Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, Editor-in-Chief, New Crusading Guide Newspaper Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, Editor-in-Chief, New Crusading Guide Newspaper

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is demanding accountability from government as far as the PDS deal is concerned.

The NDC insists government must give a detailed account of revenue collected by the Power Distribution Services (PDS) during its operation from March to October 2019.

Addressing a press conference Monday, the party’s National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi said: “from our checks, the total amount of monies PDS collected of electricity consumers in the form of electricity bills was over ¢1.5 billion but we have not heard any official communication from the Akufo-Addo government even though It’s been well over a year since the notorious PDS concessionaire arrangement was terminated because of a fraudulent demand guarantee. For this matter, Ghanaians and electricity consumers ought to know the amount of money we paid to that fraudulent entity called PDS” he said.

Kweku Baako, reacting to this on Joy Newsfile programme, said the opposition party's demands are justified and 'legit'.

"In principle, I'm with them on that score; you cannot be against it; it’s a legitimate line of enquiry. It is the responsibility of the incumbent administration to provide the answers," he stated.

He further stated that the Boakye Agyarko bribery allegation which was dealt with by parliament, cash for seat saga and others are pluses (in terms of how they were promptly addressed) "but there are minuses" he said and explained that “some of those minuses perhaps if you were transparent and open about them, people’s criticisms might be minimized so there is a challenge".