Flashback: Sell ECG - Franklin Cudjoe

The Executive Director of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe in 2013 called for the sale of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) due to the government’s inability to manage the firm.

According to him, the frequent power outages the country experienced over the years has led to public mistrust in the services provided by ECG.

In his view, the inability of the utility company to deliver its core mandate, which is to distribute electric power generated by Volta River Authority (VRA) to consumers has provoked a lot of Ghanaians to the extent that they have labelled ECG as “Evil Company of Ghana.”

He added that “one of the problems facing ECG has to do with the huge debt government owe them. This does not allow the company to operate properly and I think privatization should be the way forward.”

Read the full story originally published by the Economic Tribune

The intensity of the power cuts that are sweeping across the nation has led many to lose trust in the services provided by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

The primary function of ECG is to distribute electric power generated by Volta River Authority (VRA). However, the poor services rendered by the utility company over the years have incurred the wrath of so many Ghanaians who have christened the company as “Evil Company of Ghana.”

The Executive Director of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe, said ECG would be better off if it were privatized, noting that, “government has a reputation for being careless with national assets.”

“One of the problems facing ECG has to do with the huge debt government owe them. This does not allow the company to operate properly and I think privatization should be the way forward,” Mr Cudjoe stated.

The Deputy Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Samuel Awuku, on his part, described ECG as the most stubborn company in the country. He does not understand why tax payers pay their tariffs yet ECG does not give them value for their money.

“My job is to pay tax and so if I do, it’s expected that you give me value for money…ECG is the most stubborn company. They put off the light when they want, how they want and put it on at their own time without any prior notice,” he lamented when commenting on the ongoing load shedding in the country on Peace FM in Accra on Tuesday.

Last year, about 1,700 consumers have signed the Petition of the Consumer Protection Agency to sue ECG for poor services. The Consumer Protection Agency launched the campaign in April 2012 to collect signatures to sue the ECG for poor services.