Debt collection: 'Order from above' won't stop me, Akufo-Addo backs me - ECG MD

Sam Dubik Mahama, Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), is confident no "order from above" will stop him from achieving his goal of collecting unpaid bills from customers.

ECG has embarked on a nationwide revenue mobilization exercise to recover all unpaid bills amounting to GH¢5.7 billion from its customers.

The exercise, which will last for a month, is targetting domestic users, businesses, organisations, ministries, departments and state agencies for power already consumed from 2022 to February this year.

So far some of the companies that have had their power supply cut include; Ho Airport, Technical Universities, Ghana Airports Company among others.

Meanwhile, there have been some complaints that the exercise lacks a "human face". Reports indicate that there have even been some "order from above" calls demanding that the ECG MD stops the exercise because it's bringing a bad name to the government.

Speaking to this in an interview on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', Sam Dubik said: "Everybody has a story to tell; we can't focus on a human face and face challenges. You have used the power and you need to pay. So if you don't pay, you need to be reminded. As for the phone calls (order from above), we won't pay attention to them. Electricity has no party colours . . . we need to stop some of these things . . . "

President's Backing

The ECG MD is convinced that the "order from above" calls won't affect his work because he has strong backing from the presidency.

According to him, "Before I started the exercise, I spoke to the President and he gave me his backing. He told me point blank that I should go for the money. Vice President too same. The kind of support I've received from the President, Vice President, the Chief of Staff, Minister is massive . . . the thing is that no matter what we do, the monies must be paid".

Listen to him in the video below: