The Chief Director of the Petroleum Ministry, Professsor Thomas Akabzaa has indicted the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) saying it is the mother of all problems in the power sector.
[contextly_sidebar id=”rHAXHoQBRydhgZzfMo6WX5cmGflC3EXM”]This he said is because ECG has not been credible in Ghana’s power supply chain.
The government is currently looking for a transaction advisor as it considers two options – partial privatization or concession – in transforming ECG; a move-organized labour is opposed to.
President Mahama has assured that government will not sell the ECG despite perceived challenges in the institution which some experts have said could be rectified if privatized.
But speaking at the lecture organized by the University of Ghana’s College of basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS) the former chief director of the erstwhile Ministry of Energy, Prof Akabzaa insists Ghanaians must support the re-structuring of ECG or the power crisis will persist.
He argued that “the mother of all problems of the power sector is certainly the absence of a credible off-taker for generator electricity. Generating companies whether private or public expect prompt payment for the electricity they generate.”
Prof Akabzaa noted that ECG is the main off-taker of all electricity generated by VRA and IPP and are supposed to account for all revenue, meet their investment requirements and pay for the cost of transmission and generation.
“ECG in charitable terms is not perceived a credible off-taker, it can best be described as a harder header malignant tumor in the electricity value chain. ECG is a mere…entity with a large top heavy over centralized organization with significant weaknesses in its management, corporate governance and institutional culture that call for profound change,” he added.
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana