The Managing Director (MD) of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Mahama, has said his company owes the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) a whopping one billion dollars.

According to him, this is the reason for the ECG’s ongoing revenue mobilisation exercise intended to rake in some funds to defray the indebtedness.

He said the company buys the power in dollars from the IPPs and sells to customers in cedis.

The MD made this revelation on the second day of the revenue mobilisation exercise.

He was speaking on Accra-based Joy FM on Tuesday, March 21, 2023.

He said, so far, some GHS25 million has been accrued from the exercise and management intends to strike a deal with the IPPs for an arrangement to pay the debts weekly.

He said ECG intends to pay GHS40 to 50 million to the IPPs to avoid the company from being shut down by the IPPs.

The MD stressed that the ongoing revenue mobilisation exercise by the power distribution company is not politically motivated.

Mr Mahama said concerns that the exercise is being targeted at some party’s political base are unfounded and should be treated with the utmost contempt.

He stressed that the mass disconnection exercise has become necessary in order to mobilise much-needed revenue for the ECG to settle its US$1 billion debt to Independent Power Producers.

“I don’t see myself doing politics. I see myself now as a technocrat. The biggest mistake we could ever do is to politicise the work done by this office,” he stated.

You can also watch this episode of People & Places here: