Pianim resigns as PURC Chairman

Venerable NPP powerhouse Mr. Kwame Pianim last Monday called it quits, 'with immediate effect', from his position as Chairman of the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC) following issues of disagreements with policy, sources close to him have revealed.

There was an air of finality about his letter and left no room for any speculation about his intention, the source familiar with the matter emphasised.

There have been a few encounters with the Presidency over Kwame Pianim's handling of the PURC, and recently endured an open tongue-lashing by the buccaneering legislator for Assin South, Hon. Kennedy Agyepong over increases of tariffs, which caused a public hue and cry. The argument made by Kennedy was that the NPP Government's seeming insensitivity to the hardships of the Ghanaian will be exploited by the opposition.

Mr. Pianim's response to Kennedy's outburst was unusually low-eyed.

Over the last few months electricity and water tariffs have experienced an upward adjustment, something that the ECG, VRA and the Ghana Water Company had often complained about. ECG in particular, which is currently owed ¢50 billion, with the VRA also shouldering a debt burden in excess of that, have pressurized PURC to allow them adjust their prices to recover costs.

'They have borne the pain for two years, and they cannot absorb it any more without any damage to our plants and equipment,' said an official of the ECG, who claimed he had no clearance to speak to the press, and would like to remain off the record.

But the whole thing, about allowing for cost recovery ,has implications for Ghana's sovereign bond market and also for the nation's current rating by Fitch, which assessed the country's credit worthiness at a salutary B+.

If there is any evidence that government is subsidizing and not pushing for some sort of cost recovery, that sins against the rules governing the international capital market. It will send wrong signals to the markets, noted an expert familiar with the difficulties.