ECG woes: All governments to blame – ACEP

Successive governments are to blame for the current woes confronting state power distributor Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr Benjamin Boakye, Deputy Executive Director of the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), has said.

According to him, the arbitrary change of management at the ECG by present and past governments, have resulted in some of the inefficiencies that have characterised the work of the ECG over the years.

The company has suffered a barrage of criticism over the years. The latest deluge of flak was sparked by recent overbilling of consumers, a situation that prompted the utilities regulator Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to order the company to suspend the use of its new billing software.

Mr Boakye, speaking on the Ghana Report on Viasat 1 on Monday May 30 noted that the problems facing ECG were “government-imposed” because “if the head is rotten, the rest of the body is nothing to write home about…”

“It is a reflection of how government has managed the business by appointing and disappointing anytime they want; whether you are doing well that is not the standard you are judged by.

“If government doesn’t want you there, it doesn’t matter your performance; you will go. If you are not doing well and you are the one they want, you will continue to be there and that has been the trend, not just by this government, [but] all governments,” he said, adding: “…Therefore, your technical competence is not what matters, your link with government is what matters.”