Samuel Dubik Mahama, the Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), has criticized the Minority in Parliament for making unfair comments about the state’s treatment of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in terms of debt owed to them.
John Abdulai Jinapor, the ranking member of the Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, charged the Ministry of Finance with prejudice last week when it came to the release of payments to the IPPs.
This came after the Chamber of IPPs threatened to shut down all facilities if the over $1.7 billion debt owed to it by the top electricity distribution company in the nation, ECG, was not paid. This has since been resolved and the IPPs have been partly settled of the debt.
In contrast, Mr. Dubik Mahama expressed regret at the Minority’s stance on selective payment, saying it was “unfortunate” to make such a statement when talks were still in progress.
“These are some of the statements that I think are so unfair because if you make this statement, it’s based on what? It’s like having five children and thinking that all your children are the same. All your children are not the same. Look at all of them across board and look at what happens when something happens.”
Samuel Dubik Mahama
The Managing Director of ECG refrained from providing specifics on the payments made to each individual IPP but insisted that, in his honest opinion, it is not a reasonable remark to make because there is, in fact, a problem. He protested, “That’s an unfair statement. You don’t make statements like that in public.”
ECG Doing Better Now Than Under PDS
Samuel Dubik Mahama softened calls for the company’s revenue collection division to be privatized.
This suggestion was made by some analysts on the back of the current impasse between the government and the Chamber of Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
However, Mr. Mahama noted that ECG is currently doing better than it did when it was part of Power Distribution Services (PDS) Limited.
The Managing Director of ECG stated that the business is doing well as it stands right now. Nevertheless, he admitted that there are obstacles that must be overcome before the privatization discussion can rationally begin, especially if the company continues to post losses.
“ECG is doing far better now than when it was under PDS and there are certain operational dynamics that if we fix today, and we realize that there are still gaps in it, that is when we can start talking about privatization.
“The calls for privatization are too early because if you are privatizing a company, and you don’t know the total number of customers, and you give it out, you have given out a gold mine.”
Samuel Dubik Mahama
Mr. Mahama also stated that the company’s current top priority is to digitalize its operations in order to plug income leaks.
“We are in a phase where we are turning our operational mechanisms to become efficient like a 21st-century utility company and our dynamism in digitalizing the whole system. That is what is going to close the gap quickly because after I got the data, one of my first problems was whether it was the tariff increment or the operational things we have clocked, we had to look at.
“And I will rather say it is operational, and I have said at every moment that I don’t believe in tariff increment, but I do believe that the tariff should be adjusted in terms of forex.”
Samuel Dubik Mahama
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