Majority Leader in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has lambasted the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, for failing to resolve the mounting debt of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) during his tenure as Board Chair.

Speaking at the Parliamentary Leadership Conference on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, Ayariga dismissed Afenyo-Markin’s earlier claims that the current government had unjustifiably increased electricity tariffs twice this year.

Instead, he attributed ECG’s financial woes to mismanagement under the previous administration.

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“You [Akufo-Addo government] left us with a huge and unreasonable debt at ECG. You [Afenyo-Markin] were the Board Chair of ECG. You know how much debt was left. You yourself admitted on the floor of Parliament during a debate how bad the situation at ECG was when you assumed that role,” the Majority Leader stated.

“And despite the efforts you made to address the situation, by the time you were leaving office, you hadn’t fixed it. The debt is still there; who is going to pay for it?” he asked.

Ayariga further accused the previous administration of manipulating electricity pricing for political advantage, alleging that it blocked tariff reviews by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in 2024.

“In 2024, you stopped PURC from adjusting tariffs because you were afraid of the implications for your electoral fortunes. The records are there, you stopped them. The debts kept mounting,” he said.

Ayariga argued that the financial strain inherited from the previous government continues to weigh heavily on ECG, insisting that Afenyo-Markin bears responsibility for leaving behind unresolved liabilities.

He maintained that the former administration’s politically motivated interference with PURC decisions worsened the company’s debt position.

Defending the current government’s decision to adjust tariffs, Ayariga said the move was necessary to stabilise the energy sector and secure ECG’s long-term financial health.

Without such measures, he warned, the sector could have faced an even deeper crisis.

SA/MA

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