ECG’s problems are about management, not ordinary workers – TUC

Deputy Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr Kwabena Nyarko Otoo, has described the challenges facing the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) as a management problem rather than a failure of the company's ordinary workers.

He has questioned why Ghana should consider handing ECG to a foreign private entity when the country has qualified people capable of managing the power distributor.

Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday, September 12, during a discussion on private sector participation in ECG, Dr Otoo said the responsibility for the company's difficulties rests largely with those appointed to oversee its operations.

“The ECG problem is a management problem. Who appoint the managers?” he asked.

He said some arguments being made about ECG's inability to operate effectively were troubling enough to raise questions about Ghana's capacity to manage its own institutions.

“In fact, sometimes, some of the comments make it difficult. It makes us question whether we should have gotten independence in the first place,” he said.

“Are we telling ourselves that this country we cannot find competent people to manage ECG?” he asked.

The TUC official said ordinary employees of ECG should not be blamed for the company's financial and operational challenges.

“If ECG is a management problem, the challenges with ECG are not the ordinary workers of ECG. Ben Boakye knows that,” he said.

He instead pointed to the company's board and management and raised concerns about how revenues and contracts are handled.

“The challenges with ECG are the people, the board members, the managers,” Dr Otoo said.

Dr Otoo also raised concerns about contracts within the energy sector, citing an alleged $69 million crude oil transaction.

“The challenges with ECG are people who get a contract to supply crude oil and bring in crude oil to the tune of $69 million,” he said.

He claimed that the crude oil supplied under the contract was later found to be contaminated and could not be used.

“Only for us to find that it's a contaminated crude that cannot be used,” he said.

According to Dr Otoo, political authorities were aware of such problems but failed to take action.

“And the political authorities are aware, they are involved, they don't do anything about it,” he alleged.

He questioned why such challenges should then be used to justify selling ECG to a foreign entity.

“Then they tell us that the only way out, we cannot help, we cannot stop. So the only way out is to sell the company to a foreign entity,” he said.

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