GH₵490m unaccounted for by ECG in three months – Audit report

An audit of the Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) revenue collection revealed a discrepancy of GH₵490 million between October and December 2023.

This is on the company’s tariff and non-tariff revenue generated.

In the audit report shared by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), the discrepancy was found between the regional bank accounts and the headquarters’ account of ECG.

According to the report, “Between October and December 2023, ECG reported a revenue of GH₵3.38 billion. However, based on information from the Head Office bank accounts analysed, the recorded revenue was GH₵3.87 billion.”

The report disclosed that the unaccounted funds were identified following discussions with ECG, where it was noted that all funds from the district and regional accounts are transferred to the 14 head office accounts at the end of each month.

This resulted in the GH₵490 million discrepancy between the figures reported by the analysis and those reported by ECG.

The audit explained that the analysis was “Based on identification, review, and analysis of the relevant bank accounts used by ECG in its operations, including those for revenue collection and disbursements.”

To prevent such discrepancies in the future, the auditors recommended that several steps be considered, including the use of debit notes for fuel purchases, internal reconciliation mechanisms, revenue data from the ECG Cash Settlement Platform (ECSP) vendor, a review of the approach to the Single Collection Account, and the development of a monitoring system for allocation.