By Sarah Baafi
Energy Minister John Jinapor has revealed a significant fraud involving the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), amounting to $500,000. During an appearance on TV3’s Hot Issues on February 16, 2025, he highlighted the improper auctioning of critical equipment that was meant for ECG.
Jinapor explained that ECG failed to clear essential equipment from the port in a timely manner, leading to financial losses. He cited a specific case where a container valued at $500,000 was auctioned off for just GHC100,000 and then resold to ECG for $300,000.
“I checked with the port, and the security report I received shows that a container worth about $500,000 was imported. ECG couldn’t clear it, and somehow, someone was able to buy it at auction for 100,000 Cedis, then resold it to ECG for $300,000,” he disclosed.
Describing the situation as unacceptable, Jinapor vowed to take decisive action against such practices: “It will stop. And I mean it will stop. Whatever it takes to stop that, no matter how unpopular that may be, we must take action.”
The revelations have sparked public outrage and calls for an investigation into ECG’s procurement and auctioning processes. Stakeholders are urging the government to implement stricter measures to prevent financial mismanagement.
In addition to the auction fraud, Jinapor noted that ECG currently has around 3,000 containers stuck at ports, accumulating GHS 1.5 billion in demurrage costs due to delays in clearance. He attributed this issue to what he termed “frivolous procurements.”
“It’s all because they are engaged in what I call very frivolous procurements. Now, they have about 3,000 containers stacked at the ports, generating GHS 1.5 billion in demurrage—that is very unacceptable. Some of the things they’ve procured will last them ten years; some will even expire in five years,” he stated.
To tackle these issues, Jinapor has established a committee tasked with investigating ECG’s procurement practices and assessing the financial losses incurred due to mismanagement.
“So we’ve commissioned a committee to investigate ECG’s procurements and the cost of these containers stacked at the ports. The committee is doing a very good job,” he said.
Initial findings from this committee suggest that previous management at ECG did not adhere to proper procurement processes. “So far, the preliminary reports I have gotten indicate that there’s massive rot at ECG,” Jinapor added.
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