Former head of the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC) Tsatsu Tsikata has stated that the Public Utility and Regulatory Commission must be empowered to insist on lower tariffs rather than higher ones.

In his view, Ghanaians must concern themselves with securing efficiency in power distribution and management instead of which private firm takes over the distribution chain of the power distributor in their impending privatization drive.

“I have heard some concerns expressed about the likely impact on tariffs of having, for instance, foreign participants in the distribution of power; but then again quite clearly, having a participant whether foreign or local does not take away the important regulatory power of the PURC.

“And if we are able to ensure greater efficiency and lower cost fuel utilization in our system, then what we could rather be expecting is that the PURC will be armed with the capabilities to insist on lower rather than higher tariffs,” the renowned lawyer told a gathering at the National Insurance forum organised by insurance company, Star Assurance in Accra.

The comments come on the back of moves by the government to privatise ECG in an effort to ensure efficiency in power generation and distribution in the country.

Tsatsu also urged Ghanaians to be interested in the consortium that will acquire the right to distribute power in the country.