Energy Minister, Peter Amewu, has mocked the Minority’s claim that it has the names of government officials that fronted the botched power concession agreement.

Minority Spokesperson on the Mines and Energy Committee, Adams Mutawakilu, has said that the suspension of the agreement between government and Power Distribution Services (PDS) goes beyond the alleged breaches of PDS’s obligation to provide Payment Securities.

Mr Mutawakilu then promised that the Minority will soon publish names of officials in government who are culpable in the failed attempt to enable private sector participation in the operations of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

Related: K.T Hammond calls for arrests, prosecutions in fraudulent PDS deal

But Mr Amewu has dismissed that claim by the Minority as a joke.

“Well, they should come out and name the people because we are all working in the interest of Ghanaians. So if they have evidence, it is too late for them to be hiding it now. They should bring it out. I will see this as one of the serious jokes I have ever heard…the NDC, as usual, they are all jokers,” he said on Upfront, a current affairs programme on the Joy News channel on Wednesday.

Government explains that the decision to suspend the PDS agreement was due to “fundamental and material breaches of PDS’s obligation in the provision of Payment Securities (Demand Guarantees) for the transaction which have been discovered upon further due diligence.”

Mr Amewu said instead of criticising the government, the Minority must complement its effort to bring closure to the matter.

“I think what the NDC should rather be doing at this time is to rather complement the effort of government and even congratulate the agency, the ECG, and government effort – that government did not sleep even during the execution process, because due diligence is a continuous process,” he told host of Upfront, Raymond Acquah.

Forged documents

Mr Amewu further explained that documents presented by PDS as a guarantee for the takeover of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) were forged.

He said the documents indicated that a company in Qatar has guaranteed for PDS but the management of that company has told the government it had no knowledge of the document.

PDS became the first private company to manage the affairs of ECG after Ghana won the Power Compact II that will inject some $900 million into power distribution.

ECG’s struggle to make profit over many years prompted the need for a private investor for the sector.