The Acting Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), Sammy Gyamfi Esq, has called for drastic actions over the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)’s questionable procurement practices.
The National Communications Officer of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), in a compelling call for accountability, advocated immediate and drastic actions to address what he described as a brazen act of “criminal negligence” by elements he terms “enemies of the state” under the previous management of the ECG.
Speaking emphatically, Sammy Gyamfi aligned himself with views earlier expressed by civil society leaders, who have consistently decried the procurement irregularities at the state-owned power distributor.
According to him, the facts currently in the public domain are too glaring to ignore, and any attempt to delay action would amount to shielding corrupt practices.
“As we speak, the facts are very clear and the facts show that ECG did not have any need for these cables that they kept importing into the country. Every organisation, not to mention a company limited by shares, has a procurement plan for every year and a budget.
“And in that procurement plan and budget, the company provides for all the items, the materials, and the resources it will need in that fiscal year”.
Sammy Gyamfi, Acting MD of PMMC and NDC National Communications Officer
While acknowledging that operational realities could sometimes necessitate minor deviations from the procurement plan, Sammy Gyamfi argued that what had occurred at ECG was far beyond acceptable margins.
“You cannot have a situation where consistently over the years, one organization always exceeds its value procurement plan by 200%, 300%, 400% and in the year 2020 by nearly 13,000,000,000. Dollars. It simply doesn’t make sense”.
Sammy Gyamfi, Acting MD of PMMC and NDC National Communications Officer
For Sammy Gyamfi, such mind-boggling discrepancies point to only one logical conclusion: deliberate, self-serving manipulation of the procurement system.
“Clearly, somebody stood to benefit from the mere award of these procurement contracts even though he knew ECG had no need for that”.
Sammy Gyamfi, Acting MD of PMMC and NDC National Communications Officer
Non-Compliance of Procurement Laws
Sammy Gyamfi further raised serious legal concerns regarding the processes followed in the award of these contracts.
Citing the Energy Minister’s technical committee report on the issues, he revealed that none of the controversial contracts were awarded in accordance with the country’s Public Procurement Law.
Instead, he said, ECG officials attempted to justify their actions by arguing that as a limited liability company, the organization’s internally generated funds (IGF) were outside the scope of the procurement regulations.
But Sammy Gyamfi forcefully debunked that argument, referencing Section 14(1)(d) of Ghana’s Public Procurement Act 914, which stipulates that the law applies to all public institutions engaging in procurement with internally generated funds.
“They are making reference to a certain legal opinion authored by the former Attorney General, which legal opinion was not addressed to them, but the Ministry of Finance, and which legal opinion has not been upheld by the PPA.”
Sammy Gyamfi, Acting MD of PMMC and NDC National Communications Officer
He further reminded the public that the Attorney General is a statutory member of the PPA’s Governing Board, and thus, any opinion from that office without the express endorsement of the PPA cannot supersede the clear provisions of the law.
Sammy Gyamfi emphasized that if ECG officials believed they were entitled to operate under “established commercial practices” different from the Public Procurement Law, the correct legal pathway would have been to apply formally to the PPA for an exemption.
Such an exemption, he clarified, must be expressly granted and cannot be assumed based on an isolated legal opinion.
“This did not happen,” he stressed, adding that ECG’s continuous breach of procurement laws without a lawful exemption was a calculated and flagrant disregard for transparency and accountability in the management of public resources.
The NDC National Communications Officer concluded by stating that the scale of the procurement scandal at ECG was too severe to be treated with administrative slaps on the wrist.
He called for full-scale investigations by independent bodies and, where necessary, criminal prosecutions to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.
Sammy Gyamfi warned that failure to take decisive action would not only entrench the culture of impunity but also further undermine public confidence in state institutions tasked with managing critical national assets.
“This is not just about waste or inefficiency; this is about the willful sabotage of a public institution for private gain. And the people who did this must face the full rigors of the law.”
Sammy Gyamfi, Acting MD of PMMC and NDC National Communications Officer
His demands come at a time when public anger is mounting over rising electricity tariffs and persistent operational challenges at ECG, prompting many Ghanaians to question how the company could afford such reckless procurement spending while customers continue to suffer poor service delivery.
Sammy Gyamfi commended the Minister of Energy’s commitment to transparency and recent petition to the NIB demanding comprehensive investigations into the management of public funds at ECG by the previous leadership.
He advocated for thorough investigations to uncover and prosecute those culpable for the alleged crimes to serve as a deterrent to the willful abuse of public funds.
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