Furious Akufo-Addo considers arrests and prosecutions over ECG mismanagement

Notice: Samuel Dubik Mahama is on record to have resigned from his position as Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana for personal reasons. This article by The Herald, however, alleges he was dismissed from the position.

The Herald, has learned President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is angered by reports of financial malfeasance under Samuel Dubik Mahama, the recently dismissed Managing Director (MD) of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), is in discussions about auditing the state-owned company.

A high-level meeting, involving the Presidency, ECG’s new management led by David Asamoah, and Board Chairman Alexander Afenyo-Markin, took place last week to assess Dubik Mahama’s tenure and chart a new course for the company.

The discussions, which went late into the night, with the Director of Finance of the company present, focused on the company’s finances, multiple bank accounts, and alleged mismanagement under Dubik Mahama’s leadership.

According to insiders, President Akufo-Addo, was incensed over financial management issues and considered involving state security agencies to investigate, arrest, and prosecute any management members who broke the law.

Samuel Dubik Mahama, who was in the UK when he was dismissed, was reportedly supposed to be arrested at Kotoka International Airport upon his return, but security experts advised a quieter approach.

In response to the dismissal, individuals believed to be associated with Mahama, have taken to mainstream and social media to share unsubstantiated claims about his departure.

These claims, include allegations that Mahama, was pressured to raise GH¢ 5 million monthly for individuals at the Presidency, a claim amplified by public figures such as Kwame A-Plus and Captain Smart.

Kwame A-Plus took to Facebook “Every minister, every CEO, every government appointee has an unofficial duty to remit money to Jubilee House. If you don’t pay you’ll be sacked! That is why the ECG boss resigned. He doesn’t know where to find 5 million every month for people at Jubilee House to chop!

Captain Smart of Onua FM, also claimed that Samuel Dubik Mahama, resigned from his position because, he was not in favour of the Chinese taking over the ECG, adding that he had refused to go around the country with the Chinese to take inventory of the ECG.

He further claimed that, Samuel Dubik Mahama, his refusal to send money to fund the New Patriotic Party (NPP) 2024 presidential and parliamentary campaign, also contributing to his resignation.

Before the claims of A-Plus and Captain Smart, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Yapei Kusawgu, John Abdulai Jinapor, last week, claimed to have gotten information about details of the supposed happenings that led to lawyer Dubik Mahama’s leaving his position as the MD of ECG.

Speaking in an interview on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on September 26, 2024, John Jinapor, said Samuel Mahama’s ‘removal’ in a post shared on social media, indicated that the former ECG boss, was essentially forced to step down, for insisting that the Akufo-Addo government, must follow the right procedures for the procurement of crude oil for the production of electricity.

He said that, the former ECG boss, was opposed to the method put in place by the immediate past Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, who is now Akufo-Addo’s Senior Advisor on the Economy, which made the former minister the one in charge of the procurement of the crude oil, contrary to laid down procedures. He said that, Dubik Mahama, decided to stand his ground to ensure that the right thing was done, despite pressure from a family member of the president, and that was his bane.

“I posted about five or ten minutes before the announcement came out, because I had gotten information that some people related to the president insisted on procuring light crude oil in a certain manner, which Dubik, the MD for ECG, resisted… Now, demand has tripped for the supply of gas and so there’s a deficit of about 60 mm scf. So, they have to procure light crude oil at about $40 million every month. That translates to about $180 million by the time this year ends. But that is not even the problem. The key problem is who procures the light crude oil. We’ve maintained that VRA, being the lead agency in the generation sector, should rather be procuring the light crude oil for the other entities.

“But when Ken Ofori-Atta was minister, he insisted that the procurement be done directly under his instructions and that ECG be instructed to pay directly without recourse to the Cash Waterfall mechanism. And you and I recall that PURC, has been up in arms with ECG, because when they do that, they no longer adhere to the principle of the Cash Waterfall mechanism. And so recently, Dubik, has tried to exercise his authority and to do what is right and proper,” the MP said.

He added, “That has led to the decision to kick him out. He was determined to do what is proper, what is right, and restore the Cash Waterfall mechanism such that if anybody wanted to buy fuel, it would reflect in the Cash Waterfall mechanism, and we would know those behind the procurement of fuel so that we could track it. But he was asked to exit and unfortunately, he exited. And that is why he cited personal reasons for his decision to exit. But the painful thing is that by the end of the year, we have a debt of about $480 million on account of light crude oil,” he said.

The Herald’s findings into the departure of Samuel Dubik Mahama, established that he was rather sacked, and his dismissal had nothing to do with pressure from the Akufo-Addo family to do things inimical to the national interest.

This paper’s insiders, have revealed that he fell on his own sword.

The Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, had written and signed Dubik Mahama’s dismissal letter on the instruction of President Nana Akufo-Addo, who was in the US at the time to address the United Nations (UN) General Assembly for the last time.

Issues for his dismissal, were his inefficiency, unscrupulous procurement contracts, poor relationship with workers, excessive foreign trips, under-declaration of revenue collected through the US$25 million Hubtel Mobile payment app and concerns raised by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) over the Cash Waterfall mechanism. These had become a severe headache for the Presidency.

However, what broke the camel’s back, The Herald picked, was that the ECG boss sent officers to the residence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) country rep in Ghana, and had his power supply disconnected for non-payment of bills. President Akufo-Addo, was embarrassingly accosted in the US by IMF chiefs, leading to Dubik Mahama’s immediate dismissal.

He was told to choose the easiest option of resignation, over an outright dismissal, which could taint his records, and he chose the resignation route, hiding behind “personal reasons”.

Strangely, there have since been allegations believed to be sponsored by him that he was kicked out for defying the Akufo-Addo family over some fuel procurement contracts.

Interestingly, the same Dubik Mahama, The Herald, has picked up, has been scheming to have the Presidency send him to the Energy Ministry as a “Technical Advisor”.

The Herald, was further informed that, the IMF boss and his office, had several times reached out to the ECG to have his meter changed because it was faulty and not reading.

He had complained severally, but ECG officials were not responsive to addressing the issue, but rather insistent on disconnection which happened last week to the annoyance of the IMF.

Dubik Mahama’s non-responses to get the ECG meter at the residence of the IMF boss changed, despite several attempts by the Fund’s office in the country and despite several meter procurements, exposed his inefficiency to an institution which was arranging some US$200 million for the country as part of its bailout package.

Removing Dubik, who was in the UK at the time, was also to convince the IMF that, reforms are on track, and to ensure the IMF disbursements kept flowing ahead of the 2024 elections.

Concerning revenue, there are also claims of an under-declaration of the ECG tariff Hubtel has been collecting from the public by the management of the state-owned company.

The new Board Chairman of ECG, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, is said to be determined to get to the bottom of the revenue issue and has since issued some orders with an emergency meeting held on Tuesday.

Reports that Dubik Mahama is a victim of the Akufo-Addo family’s interests within the power sector through fuel contracts, which some media outlets have portrayed him to be, is not true, The Herald picked up.

At best, he had created that image to give suppliers and others a false impression of his closeness to the Akufo-Addo family, exploiting that, including an inflated foreign exchange rate deal with Fidelity Bank.

Dubik Mahama, in a letter to the Board Chairman of ECG, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, announced his resignation as MD of ECG, citing personal reasons.

Dubik Mahama was appointed by President Akufo-Addo and resumed office on May 16, 2022.

He served as a non-executive director at ECG and has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors.

“I am writing to formally resign from my position as Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana, effective two weeks from the above date. The decision has not come easily, but after much reflection, I have concluded that it is in my best interest to step away for personal reasons.

“Over the past two years and four months. I have had the profound honour of serving this esteemed organisation, and I am truly grateful for the opportunities I have received. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Board for your unwavering support and guidance throughout my tenure. I also wish to express my sincere gratitude to the President for the trust placed in me, which has been a significant aspect of my journey here.”