The Ministry of Water and Power is reportedly engaged in tactical manoeuvring to appoint an ineligible officer to the coveted post of Chief Executive Office (CEO) of Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), well-informed sources in the Ministry told Business Recorder.
"The ministry's top brass has changed the criteria to accommodate a person whose reputation as power sector expert is questionable," sources added. A couple of months ago, Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) had advertised this post; 48 applications were received and one sent to the ministry for further processing. Two days ago, the ministry invited fresh applications for this post with a view to giving an unfair advantage to the controversial officer or expert.
A comparison of advertisements of Pepco and the ministry shows significant changes in the terms of reference to favour the appointment of the Energy Advisor. For instance, the Water and Power Ministry added a para 'GoP is implementing reforms and restructuring Pakistan's power sector' by replacing 'Pepco has been mandated by the GoP for implementation and management of reforms and restructuring power sector'.
The ministry also added that under the reforms, the function of generation, transmission and distribution of power have been separated and the entities have been issued licences for their respective operations under Nepra Act 1997, under the reformed power sector, the functions of single purchaser and seller of power sector were initially assigned to NTDC, however, in order to improve the financial management and bring in the culture of corporate governance in the power sector, the GoP has decided to separate the functions of single buyer and seller of electricity from NTDC through creation of a new autonomous body with the title CPPA.
In the second para, the ministry has added that it is looking for a high calibre professional to lead CPPA as its CEO and deleted the words in the first advertisement that stated 'Pepco has now been delegated to implement the CPPA and the agency shall be responsible for negotiations and management of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) also'.
In third para the words 'Pepco is looking for a high calibre professional to lead CPPA as its Managing Director' have been replaced by 'GoP is looking for a high level calibre as CEO.' Fourth para of the second advertisements states that 'transitory during the start-up and until the CPPA limited gets its full mandate given by its Board of Director (BoD), the CEO will report to the Secretary Water and Power'. Pepco, in its advertisement had clarified that transitory during the start-up and until CPPA limited gets its full mandate given by its BoD, the MD will report to Chairman Pepco.
In fifth para, the ministry added 'the candidate should be Chartered or Cost and Management Accountant or an engineer with MBA with at least 10 years experience in power sector in senior management'. Pepco, in its advertisement had sought a candidate who was a professional engineer with proven management experience or fellow of Institute of Chartered Accountant or Cost and Management Accountant. Engineers having MSc (Engg) or MBA degree would be preferred.
Hands on post qualification experience was required for a period of more than 25 years in power sector/energy sector with 3 to 5 years experience as senior executive/head of organisation. Power sector experience was to be considered an added qualification. This para was deleted in the second advertisement.
The GoP added para is as follows: "the candidate should demonstrate extensive experience in financial management of power sector and possess strong knowledge of the power markets, contemporary market models and regulatory affairs and have affiliations with the international/national professional bodies. He should have clear understanding of how to manage modern electricity utilities.
In sixth para, the GoP added that the position should have a market based remuneration package as prevalent in the corporate sector; a company maintained car or equivalent allowance to be provided. Full medical for self and family will also be provided. Pepco had advertised that the position will have market based remuneration package, benchmarked on MP-1.