By: Edith Atiaka Eshun
The Public Utilities Workers Union, PUWU of the Trades Union Congress, TUC have vehemently resisted the private party involvement in the operations and management of the Electricity Company of Ghana, ECG and the Northern Electricity Development Company, NEDCo.
A statement signed by the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Timothy Nyame said despite the numerous inefficiencies in the operations of ECG and for that matter the State-owned Enterprises, it is untrue for anyone to suggest that the inefficiencies are only at the retail end of ECG.
The Union stated that its position well spelt out and presented to the Ministerial Committee on issues facing the energy sector particularly the power distribution sector needs urgent attention to help address the shortfalls.
Among the many challenges, the PUWU stated the dreadful financial impact of the existing take-or-pay contracts and the rushed procurement of excess generating capacity on the electricity sector in the last few years, revenue collection bottlenecks largely attributed to metering challenges including but not limited to uncaptured meters, political meters arising from SHEP, multiple meters and persistent shortage of meters compelling potential customers to find their meters and connect illegally to the grid as well as high cost of electricity procurement, excessive government and political interference and ineffective corporate governance in the sector.
The statement further noted that the appointment of Board of Directors without recourse to competencies and merit cannot be overruled, with the energy sector engulfed by a culture of political appointees dictating the types and sources of major procurements such as meters and service materials including cables, conductors and poles.
The statement however recommends a stakeholder Board that brings the insight and expertise of the major Think Tank and social groups including labour to bear on the operation of the ECG and NEDCo as well as the Managing Director given clear deliverables and must be held to strict accountability on the deliverables as the position of the Energy Ministry is strengthened regarding the State-Owned Enterprises and the energy sector with procurement of electricity generation capacity done through open competitive tender.
The PUWU believes that, ECG remains a critical national asset essential for Ghana’s economic development therefore with the challenges ranging from political interference to operational inefficiencies, privatisation or private sector participation is not a viable solution.
