A petition to President John Dramani Mahama is exposing what can be described as “five sins” of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), making their demands for tariffs indefensible.
The failings are chronic inefficiencies of the power distributor, making the utility’s push for a tariff hike unjustified.
Authored by Rev. John Awuni, Chairman of the Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG), and cited by The High Street Journal, the petition accuses ECG of bleeding public funds through negligence, weak governance, and corruption, yet seeking to raise electricity tariffs between 2025 and 2030.
Rev. Awuni argues that approving a tariff increase without first reforming ECG would be akin to fetching water with a basket, which is wasteful and pointless. He insists that such a move would only reward inefficiency, theft, and mismanagement.
The petition, therefore, urges President Mahama to tackle these five deep-rooted failings head-on and steer ECG back toward accountability, efficiency, and long-term sustainability.
Losses – Ghana’s Costliest Leak
At the top of Rev. John Awuni’s list is ECG’s staggering 32% technical and commercial losses. His research says this is among the highest in Africa. Much of this, the petition says, is due to non-technical losses such as power theft, meter tampering, and poor billing practices.
Each percentage point of loss translates to GH¢400–500 million in value evaporating yearly.
Poor Collections – Half-Dead Financial Health
The second “sin” of the power distributor is the abysmal 43% collection efficiency in the 2023/24 fiscal year. Simply put, the company recovers less than half of the money it is owed for power already consumed.
“This is unsustainable for an entity meant to stabilize the sector,” the petition noted, suggesting that if a market woman runs her business this way, she’ll close shop in a month.
Some analysts have earlier propagated that improving revenue collection, through smart metering, digital billing, and enforcement, could restore financial stability far more effectively than burdening consumers with new charges.
System Failures
The petition also draws attention to the GH¢893 million vending system collapse in 2024, which left thousands of prepaid customers stranded and the company scrambling for days to restore normalcy.
That incident, according to Rev. Awuni, “exposed how fragile ECG’s IT backbone is” and underscored the lack of backup systems or proper oversight. He argues that the incident “also revealed a lack of redundancy and oversight.”
Corruption and Weak Governance
Rev. Awuni’s fourth charge against ECG can be described as perhaps the most damning. He alleges serious corruption and weak governance. He cited that the Auditor-General’s reports have repeatedly flagged financial leakages and procurement irregularities within ECG, yet enforcement of sanctions remains almost non-existent.
“The Auditor-General’s findings highlight systemic financial leakages. Without the enforcement of disallowance and surcharge provisions, waste continues unchecked,” he added.
Unequal District Performance – Theft and Collusion Gone Local
Finally, the petition points to unequal district performance, with some ECG districts recording losses exceeding 40–50%. This, according to Rev. Awuni, is evidence of localized theft and possible collusion between staff and customers.
“This suggests theft and collusion are localized and can be targeted with technology and enforcement,” he alleged.
The Case Against Higher Tariffs
In the argument of Rev. Awuni, taken together, these five failings paint a company in crisis, not one deserving of a tariff boost. He insists that unless ECG addresses these structural inefficiencies, any upward tariff adjustment would amount to “asking Ghanaians to subsidize waste, theft, and corruption.”
He urges the President and the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to prioritize reforms, not revenue increases, as the foundation for a sustainable power sector.
