ECG had zero investment during Akufo-Addo’s first term – Dubik Mahama

Former Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Mahama, has revealed that the administration of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo failed to invest in ECG during his first term in office.

Mahama attributed the lack of investment to the government’s focus on privatizing the power distribution company at the time.

“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 said on Joy FM on Thursday, April 10.

Mr. Mahama referenced the controversial Power Distribution Services (PDS) deal, under which the management of ECG was handed over to PDS for about eight months. The agreement was later terminated, prompting ECG’s return to state control just ahead of the 2020 general elections.

“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…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 noted.

“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 said.