Former Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Mahama, has shed light on what he described as a troubling lack of investment in the company during the first term of President Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration.
Speaking at the JoyNews National Dialogue, Mr. Mahama pointed to the government’s early focus on privatising ECG as a major factor behind the neglect of much-needed investment.
“If you cast your mind back, during the President’s first tenure, all efforts were geared towards sending ECG into privatisation. So, there was zero investment in the company,” he stated.
Mr. Mahama, who took office as ECG Managing Director in 2022, said one of his immediate actions was to assess the company’s operational health, only to uncover glaring inefficiencies in its data and billing systems.
“When I assumed office in 2022 as Managing Director, one of the first things I did was to conduct a health check on the company,” he said. “What I found was that although there had been massive growth in the number of ECG customers, this was not properly reflected in the company’s data.”
He explained that the billing system was unable to capture the surge in new customers, leading to significant gaps in revenue collection.
“The billing system had its own deficiencies. When it hit the 4.5 million customer mark, new customers being added were not being captured in the billing system. They were hanging,” he revealed.
Mr. Mahama’s comments highlight long-standing systemic issues within ECG and underscore the need for both technical and policy-level reforms to enhance the efficiency and financial stability of the national utility provider.
