Withdraw unreasonable GH¢5.8m fine against former board members – ECG to PURC

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has asked the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to immediately withdraw the hefty GH¢5.8 million fine imposed on its former board members.

PURC on Tuesday, April 16, imposed a hefty GH¢5.8 million fine on former ECG board members who served from January 1 to March 18, 2024, for, among other things, failing to provide a load-shedding timetable after a series of power outages between January and March this year.

The PURC also imposed GH¢36,000 and other sanctions on the power distributor after it failed to honour requests for data requested by the PURC on three consecutive occasions.

The data requested related to the tariff revenue allocation under the Cash Waterfall Mechanism (CWM), the provision of regulatory audit data and the submission of information related to operational matters, as well as the provision of other regulatory audit data.

In a letter on Friday, April 19, the Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik Mahama said the sanctions on him and the board members are null and void and must be withdrawn as they contravene the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission Act, 1997 (Act 538).

Mr. Dubik Mahama said it submitted all the documents PURC requested in its March 18 letter and should have been given a chance to clarify any misunderstandings if any.

“Following our above submissions, we strongly advise that the Commission immediately withdraws the Further Orders dated 15th April 2024, directed at ECG and its Board of Directors as same is NULL AND VOID. It is further advised that ECG should be given the opportunity to be heard on any charges of alleged breaches of its duties and obligations following the submission of its reports pursuant to PURC Orders dated 18th March 2024.

“Please take note that this request is without prejudice to ECG’s legal rights to seek an order of certiorari to quash the said orders, an order of prohibition against further arbitrary actions of the Commission and a mandamus to compel the Commission to hear ECG on the alleged breaches of its duties under the Act 538 and LI 2413.”