Dubik Mahama: During Akufo-Addo’s first term, there was little investment in ECG.

Samuel Dubik Mahama, the former managing director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), has disclosed that throughout President Nana Akufo-Addo’s first term in office, hardly any investment was done in the company.

Speaking at the JoyNews National Dialogue on Thursday, April 10, Mr. Mahama clarified that the government’s emphasis on privatising the power distribution firm at the time was a major factor in the lack of investment.

“If you go back in time to the President’s first term, every effort was directed towards the privatisation of ECG. Accordingly, there was no investment in the business,” Mr. Mahama said.

He recalled the unsuccessful Power Distribution Services (PDS) agreement, in which ECG control was moved to PDS for around eight months prior to the agreement’s collapse.

As the nation prepared for the 2020 general elections, he added, ECG returned to state control after the disastrous privatisation attempt.

“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,” said Mahama. “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 clarified that ECG’s Commercial Management System (CMS), which was implemented as part of a World Bank project, was not equipped to manage the growing number of clients.

“The billing system has flaws of its own. The billing system was failing to record newly joined customers when it reached the 4.5 million customer milestone. He said, “They were hanging.”