Privatising ECG will bring hardship – MP

A member of the Mines and Energy Committee of parliament, Isaac Asiamah, has said outsourcing the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to a private firm will bring untold hardships to Ghanaians.

The Atwima Mponua MP believes Ghanaians will no longer be able to pay for electricity when a private company takes over the management of the state power distributor.

Forty-five companies are already bidding for the management of the state power company as the government of Ghana intends privatising it.

Speaking on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class 91.3fm Wednesday April 20, Mr Asiamah called on the Government to be truthful about the difficulties the country will face should it settle on a bidder to manage ECG.

“If this arrangement goes through, I’m telling you that few Ghanaians can have access to electricity,” he said.

“It is going to be so expensive that only few Ghanaians can have access to electricity. Go out and check, Ghanaians cannot even buy the electricity prepaid cards. The new arrangement in homes is that people are not turning on their lights because when they use it, they are going to pay more, so, instead of ‘dumsor’ – ‘erratic power supply’, it is now ‘mensor’ – ‘I won't switch on the light’.

“… It is not the best for Ghana and we should ignore it. I have said it on the floor of the house that they should tell Ghanaians the truth and the truth is that ECG is being sold; that is all”.

The lawmaker debunked submissions that even if ECG is privatised, the company will keep its staff and not lay off its workers.

“…You are giving up the management of the entire ECG to a private company and you are telling the private company the number of people they should employ? It is not possible because you want the private company to operate in such a way that it will benefit the company and the company can also pay back,” he said.

Energy analyst Kojo Poku, however, said there should be no attempt by government to bail out ECG.

“I will not support or advise or even encourage the idea of government [going] to carry 500 million and sinking it into ECG as a case. Everybody who owes ECG – be it government, be it a private institution, SOE, or an MDA – if you owe ECG and an international private company is taking over ECG, they will come for their money. You are only buying time if you think government is the one running it now, so: ‘I am not going to pay my debt’”.