Amidst calls for the privatisation of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Joshua Ansah, has opined that privatisation of the power distribution company is not the best option for the government.

According to him, records show that some companies and factories that were privatised in the past have still not bounced back to normalcy despite hopes that privatisation would spur growth.

In an interview with 3news.com, Ansah stated that government interference, among other hurdles, needs to come to a halt for ECG to become operational.

He said, “Our position on privatisation has always been no, because we notice that privatisation in any form is the same. There are so many companies, factories which were privatised, and most of them did not yield positive results."

“So, we think that the problem with ECG, the solution to ECG, is not privatisation. If the government takes care of it, ECG can be on its feet again. Again, government interference, we have something we call government procurement, buying meters. All these things, when they stop, ECG can be managed well because it is providing social support to Ghanaians,” he said.

The Mahama government had earlier said it was exploring ways to partner with the private sector to enhance the efficiency of revenue collection for these power distribution companies.

This is in a bid to address financial mismanagement, inadequate service delivery, and inefficiencies in the energy sector that may have dire consequences for Ghanaians.

The Electricity Company of Ghana in 2022 suffered a GH¢10.21 billion loss, worse than the GH¢1.91 billion recorded in 2021.

This represented more than a 433% loss in 2022, largely due to exchange rate losses resulting from the cedi depreciation and increased costs of distributing power to consumers.

The power distributor’s losses were captured in the latest Auditor General’s Report on the accounts of public boards, corporations, and other statutory institutions in 2023.

For the period under review, ECG’s income increased by 24.1% to GH¢15.03 billion in 2022 from GH¢12.10 billion in 2021, largely due to increased internally generated funds and government grants.

The grants were payments made to power-producing companies by the government on behalf of the power distributor.

Its total expenditure increased significantly by 80% to GH¢25.23 billion in 2022 from GH¢14.02 billion in 2021, mainly due to increases in direct costs and foreign exchange losses.

The increase in direct costs was primarily attributed to increases in the cost of power purchased and transmission costs.

SA/MA

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