How ECG overspent over GH¢170 million without board approval in 2023 - A-G report reveals

A recent report by the Auditor General has uncovered gross financial infractions at the nation's power distributor, the Electricity Company of Ghana Limited (ECG).

The report, which covered the company's finances for the 2023 financial year, showed that the then management of the company spent millions on 13 expenditure items without the requisite approval of its board.

Eleven of the expenditure items were listed by the Ranking Member of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, Samuel Atta Mills, at a recent sitting of the committee on the report, which showed that the company overspent its budget by almost GH¢170 million without the approval of its board.

For some of the items, the company overspent its budget by about GH¢60 million.

Below is a breakdown of some of the items:

Foreign training: Budgeted amount of GH¢31 million, actual spending of GH¢91 million.

Cleaning expenses: Budgeted amount of GH¢2.8 million, actual spending of GH¢10.4 million.

Honorarium expenses: Budgeted amount of GH¢3.8 million, actual spending of GH¢4.6 million.

Hotel expenses: Budgeted amount of GH¢9.3 million, actual spending of GH¢12.2 million.

Staff fuel: Budgeted amount of GH¢2.8 million, actual spending of GH¢3.6 million.

Communication expenses: Budgeted amount of GH¢4.2 million, actual spending of GH¢7.9 million.

Consultancy: Budgeted amount of GH¢40 million, actual spending of GH¢58.6 million.

Industrial relations: Budgeted amount of GH¢2 million, actual spending of GH¢13 million.

Stakeholder expenses: Budgeted amount of GH¢3.1 million, actual spending of GH¢49 million.

Publicity: Budgeted amount of GH¢5.7 million, actual spending of GH¢21.8 million.

Professional fees and subscriptions: Budgeted amount of GH¢731,000, actual spending of GH¢1.5 million.

State bodies lose over GH¢1.24bn to financial irregularities – Auditor-General

View the table below for the exact amount of the over-expenditure for each of the items listed:



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