Thumbs up PURC – Edward Bawa lauds ECG sanctioning

The Member of Parliament for Bongo constituency, Edward Abambire Bawa, has praised the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) for penalising board members of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for violating Regulation 39 of L.I. 2413, which requires prior communication to consumers before any major power outages occur.

According to him, the public sector will work efficiently if regulatory bodies in the country monitor, and enforce laws within their area of responsibility.

Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Citi TV, the MP said, “Thumbs up to PURC, if we have good and strong regulations and regulators are up to their job, you will usually have sectors working very well. Congratulations to all the current PURC commissioners.”

The ECG board members who served from January 1 to March 18, 2024, were found guilty of violating Regulation 39 of L.I. 2413 and were thus imposed a fine of GH¢5,868,000 by the PURC.

Among those affected were ECG’s Managing Director, Samuel Dubik Mahama, and the former Board Chair Keli Gadzekpo.

Meanwhile, there has been recent widespread criticism of the government with citizens and business owners expressing fury over how their lights go off for more than 12 hours a day.

A significant size of the public have also questioned whether 'dumsor' is back and asked the government to provide a timetable to enable them to plan their activities properly.

But the government has been adamant that what is being experienced in the country is not 'dumsor' but rather equipment issues which are being addressed.

On the back of this, the PURC asked ECG to produce a load-shedding schedule by April 2, 2024, a request that was shamelessly disobeyed without explanation.

According to the PURC in the letter dated March 18 2024, their investigation of the given data indicated 4,142 power outages.

Meanwhile, Edward Bawa who dismissed the ECG’s claims about some 360 overloaded transformers also accused the power distribution company of being untruthful to the consuming public.

“PURC just confirmed what all of us knew, because it was a bit weird that the only time you [ECG] were dealing with the transformers was between 7 pm and 11 pm. which was the period of peak, where Ghanaians needed time most. It was a bit weird to have said that was the time you are replacing or fixing your transformers; it doesn’t make sense,” the MP noted.

In a recently issued report, a PURC Commissioner, Ishmael Edjekumhene, vehemently disagreed with ECG's assertions of some 360 overloaded transformers being the cause of the power supply disruptions.

NOQ/MA