Former Energy Minister in the erstwhile Mahama government, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, has described the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission’s (PURC) decision to place a fine on the board members of the Electricity Company of Ghana as ‘extremely refreshing’.
The PURC, in a letter issued a Ghc 5.8m fine on the board members of the ECG over what they describe as a non-compliance of publishing a low-shedding timetable with customers and power consumers.
According to the PURC, the ECG board members who served from the first of January 2024 through to 18th March 2024 have approximately six weeks to make payment of fine.
In the view of the regulatory commission, the ECG had allegedly breached Regulation 39 of Legislative Instrument (L.I. 2413), which mandates the company to give prior notification to consumers before any disruption in power supply.
The fine imposed on the board of Ghana’s main power distributor, ECG, affects the immediate past board Chair, Kelli Gadzekpo, and the incumbent Managing Director of the company, Samuel Dubik Mahama.
While expressing his view on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News with Umaru Sanda Amadu, and monitored by Peacefmonline.com, the Member of Parliament for Pru East, Dr. Donkor opined that the fine imposed on the board members was extremely refreshing with reason being the failure of the ECG board to take accountability for the company’s decisions.
He expressed, “For me that is extremely refreshing. Extremely refreshing because I also rank the state enterprises committee of parliament, and good governance has been noticed more by its absence in a number of state-owned enterprises. Board members do not take responsibility for decisions of the entities that they superintend over. And so, I am very excited about that.”
However, speaking to Joy News’s top story, Dr. Donkor mentioned that, in as much as the fine is in the right direction, the quantum of money being requested for is way too exorbitant for the board.
He added that, directors can be held personally and collectively liable for overseeing power outages, stressing that “we can remove the corporate veil and attack directors personally.”
He was quick to add that directors of institutions have duties captured under the law, stressing that the biggest challenge faced by state enterprises is poor corporate governance and lack of rendering accountability as well as taking responsibilities of actions and inactions.
