The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has imposed a severe penalty of GHS 5,868,000.00 on members of the board of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) who served from January 1 to March 18, 2024. This action stems from their violation of Regulation 39 of L.I. 2413, which mandates prior notification to customers before any power outage.
Notable individuals affected by these penalties include Keli Gadzekpo, who resigned as Board Chair on March 26, and Samuel Dubik Mahama, the current ECG Managing Director.
In a letter dated March 18, PURC instructed ECG to provide a load-shedding timeline by April 2, 2024, which was openly disregarded without explanation. As a result, the regulator indicated its intention to impose 3,000 penalty units on ECG for each of the 163 breaches related to its failure to comply with the required 3-day statutory notice.
However, considering the nature of ECG’s ownership and business, the Commission deemed the imposition of the fine directly on ECG counterproductive. It reasoned that payment from ECG’s revenue would adversely affect the quality of service and consumers. Therefore, the nine board members have been given until May 30, 2024, to remit the fine into a dedicated fuel account jointly controlled by the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance.
Source: Energy Ghana