Energy sector continues to be our Achilles heel – Finance Minister

The Minister for Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has emphasised that the government remains committed to finding a solution to the current challenges bedevilling Ghana’s energy sector including erratic power supply.

Speaking on the sidelines of the recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington D.C., Dr Amin Adam described the energy sector as a looming point of failure for the government.

“The energy sector continues to be our Achilles heel and the current outages are quite disturbing. We are not happy about it ourselves. But the problems in the energy sector have accumulated for years, we have addressed some of these challenges but some of them are also emerging that need immediate attention,” he said.

He outlined some measures being undertaken by the government to address the challenges in the sector including consolidating revenue collection of the Electricity Company of Ghana into a single account.

"ECG will not collect revenue through the many accounts that they operate. Everything will come through a single collection account. So, it is easier for all of us to track,” he added.

Dr. Amin Adam expressed optimism that the single account will enhance accountability and transparency in ECG’s revenue management. He revealed that audits of the cash waterfall mechanism are underway, with one already published.

“We are going to continue to do that so that we can bring transparency and accountability so that all revenues meant for the cash waterfall goes to the cash waterfall for the purpose for which it was created,” the Finance Minister stated.

The move comes after revelations that ECG has been operating 61 different bank accounts, far more than initially anticipated.

Member of Parliament Edward Bawa had earlier claimed ECG was running 37 accounts, prompting calls for the dissolution of ECG’s board and the dismissal of its Managing Director for violating cash management rules.

“IMF had indicated that you have a single account such that anytime you take the revenues, we can follow the account where the money is put,” Bawa stated, adding that ECG refused to make its accounts available for auditing by Price Water House Coopers.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission has also fined ECG GH¢36,000 for failing to submit details on all its bank and investment accounts.

GA/SARA