John Jinapor, the Minister for Energy and Green Transition has stated the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is operating like a cartel.
According to him, the ECG has engaged in procurement beaches that surpass legal limits, warranting a forensic audit of its procedures.
John Jinapor further revealed that the former Managing Director of the ECG will be invited for questioning and everyone involved will also be invited for a fair hearing and opportunities to answer.
Speaking on TV3’s The Key Point on March 29, John Jinapor revealed, “The ECG has procured items way above the legal limits. We will do a forensic audit of these containers. This is just the beginning. We are looking into ECG’s procurement structures. The system began to decay in 2022.”
“It is like a cartel that has been operating. The issue of the invitation of the former MD will follow now. Everybody will be given a fair hearing and opportunities to answer,” he said.
The Energy Minister revealed that the ECG containers at the Tema port were auctioned at ridiculously low prices.
John Jinapor further revealed, “When there is an auction, and you said some of these containers belonging to ECG, which was imported with the taxpayers’ money, were auctioned at ridiculously low prices, which you have noticed now. Can such an auction of the ECG’s containers at the ports be done without the knowledge of, for instance, the managing director?”
“I thought that for such high-value items, the first step would have been that the state could have taken it, given it to the Ministry of Energy, and we’d use it for rural electrification,” Jinapor stated.
He added, “This same government spends money to buy these cables for rural electrification. And secondly, some of these items are only for one purpose. So, if you take cables, they are for the extension of electricity and nothing else,” he emphasized.
“If you go and auction them, it will end up in these aluminium factories where they will melt them at very ridiculous prices,” he revealed.
John Jinapor further stressed, “Auctions traditionally ought to be done through a competitive process, not through sole sourcing once again. An announcement ought to be made, and the government ought to give notification for everybody to participate”.
We are securing all the containers, and then we will sit with GRA, GHAPOHA, and government and have a structured payment plan.
“Instead of the Ministry of Energy now awarding another contract to buy cables, why don’t we take these cables and then apply our budget to pay for the duties and other related costs?” he recommended.
