The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs on the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament have called for the resignation of the Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the entire board of the power distributor.
The Minority side accused ECG MD, Samuel Dubik Mahama and the board of spreading misinformation about the power situation in the country and failing to address demands from the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).
The PURC has imposed a fine on members of the ECG board who served between January 1 and March 18, 2024.
The fine, totaling GH₵5,868,000, stems from the board's violation of Regulation 39 of L.I. 2413, which mandates the company to notify consumers in advance of any power interruptions.
Speaking to JoyNews, a member of the Mines and Energy Committee, Edward Bawa asserted that the entire ECG board must be dismissed.
“If we live in a very serious country, Samuel Dubik should not have a job. If we were living in a very serious country, the board members of ECG should have all been fired.
“But you see, we are not living in normal times, we’re living in a country where the breaking of laws can be done with so much impunity,” he said.
Regarding the fine imposed on the ECG board members, Mr Bawa argued that the financial penalties are not a substitute for the punishment of incompetence.
He emphasised that ECG's inefficiencies have resulted in financial losses and hardships for Ghanaians.
He emphasised that ECG's inefficiencies have resulted in financial losses and hardships for Ghanaians.
“There is a social contract between the procedures of the utilities and consumers. Consumers are not getting the best service even though they pay for their bills.
They [consumers] are saying that even if I’m not getting the best service, the law says that if you’re not going to give me power, tell me within three days. I should have three days' notice that I’m not going to get power, you have not abided by those ones - that is what they are punishing them on," Mr Bawa explained.
He emphasized that ECG's failure to comply with the law means that both the board and the Managing Director should be "packing their bags and leaving their office."
The Bongo Constituency MP in the Upper East Region stressed that ECG's response to the power outages is unacceptable and described it as "scandalous," stressing that if Ghana were a serious country, the ECG Managing Director would have already submitted his resignation.
“I will continuously raise the issue that they must go. They have lost the right to occupy those offices and they must leave the offices. What kind of indiscipline is this,” Mr Bawa questioned.
Credit: Prince Adu-Owusu
Credit: Prince Adu-Owusu