By Daniel Bampoe
The Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, has admitted that the now-defunct Power Distribution Services (PDS) arrangement, though marred by controversy and greed, was fundamentally a viable model that could have delivered results under better governance.
Speaking during the Government Accountability Series in Accra on Wednesday, July 16, Jinapor launched a scathing critique of what he termed “a few greedy individuals” who manipulated the PDS deal for personal gain, ultimately undermining what was intended to be a transformative partnership between the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the private sector.
Background to the PDS Scandal
The PDS deal, originally signed in 2019 during the Akufo-Addo administration. The initiative started under the previous NDC administration of President John Mahama. It was aimed at bringing private sector efficiency to Ghana’s struggling power distribution system.
Under the Millennium Challenge Compact II, Ghana stood to benefit from nearly $500 million in U.S. aid, contingent on ECG being partly run by a private consortium.
However, in 2020, the PDS contract was terminated by the Akufo-Addo-led government after it emerged that key documents submitted as part of the concession arrangement had been fraudulently obtained.
This included questionable insurance guarantees from Qatari firm Al Koot, which triggered widespread calls for accountability.
Despite the scandal, Jinapor insists that the core idea behind the PDS model—private sector participation in energy distribution—was not inherently flawed.
“Good Policy, Bad Actors”
Jinapor, who now oversees the energy transition agenda under President Mahama’s second administration, clarified that the initiative failed not because of the model itself, but due to the unethical conduct of some individuals.
“The only bad thing was that a few greedy individuals decided to cannibalise the process and to sell the shares among themselves,” he said, suggesting that the intentions behind the initiative were overshadowed by political interference and cronyism.
He revealed that even in its compromised state, the ECG recorded increased revenue during the short-lived PDS era—an indication, he believes, that private sector engagement can yield results if done transparently and competitively.
“If they had started what we are doing now—ensuring value for money, a competitive process, and less political interference—even in its bad form, we saw that the revenue of ECG was increasing,” Jinapor stated.
While distancing the current administration from the discredited PDS approach, John Jinapor reiterated that private sector involvement in energy remains a key part of the government’s agenda.
However, he assured the public that future arrangements would not involve political elites or hidden shareholding.
“We are not going to use the PDS approach in bringing in the private sector,” he declared. “I have assured you that we would not get involved in the shares of the new private involvement.”
John Jinapor’s remarks appear to mark a policy shift by the Mahama-led government, which previously came under fire for its handling of the PDS deal.
His comments also reflect a cautious but strategic return to some form of public-private partnership in energy, albeit under stricter safeguards.
The Energy Minister’s statements come amid increasing scrutiny of the Mahama administration’s second-term energy strategy.
While some political watchers see the renewed openness to private sector involvement as pragmatic, critics have questioned whether enough reforms have been made to prevent a repeat of the PDS fiasco.
