The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has been caught in procurement breaches worth over $145 million, according to the Auditor-General.

The board and management of the power distributor failed to obey the Public Procurement Act in signing 50 contracts to procure 862,750 meters and its accessories between 2016 and 2021.

According to the 2022 Performance Audit Report of the Auditor General on the Management of Meters by the Electricity Company Limited, ECG failed to consider legal processes of value for money by ensuring transparency and competitiveness in the tender process.

A graphic.com.gh report on the issue read in part: "Though the meters procured were taken through rigorous testing to ensure that specifications were met, ECG did not take steps to explore the possibility of getting meters of the same specifications at lower prices from other manufacturers other than the ones in its database."

Why the audit?

The audit that occasioned this discovery was to ascertain how ECG planned and budgeted, procured, and monitored its installed meters to minimise power theft.

The audit was carried out from August to December 2022 and covered the period 2016 to 2021.

Key documents were reviewed as were key personnel across the ECG system interviewed by auditors. Among them, personnel at the ECG Head Office, Metering and Technical Services (MTS) Division, Materials and Depot in the Greater Accra Region as well as four selected regional and nine district offices.