Abena Osei-Asare, the chairperson of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), has advised the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to resolve financial mismanagement concerns prior to submitting any more rate adjustment proposals.
Her remarks come after discussions at a PAC meeting that revealed significant disparities in ECG’s spending, as shown in the 2024 Auditor-General’s Report.
According to the report, the company’s cleaning charges went from GHS2.8 million to GHS10.4 million, consulting fees went from GHS40 million to GHS58.6 million, and its foreign training expenses went from a projected GHS21 million to GHS91 million.
Meanwhile, electricity tariffs for all consumer categories were increased by 1.14 percent on October 1, 2025, under ECG’s quarterly review mechanism. The company is also seeking approval from the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) for a proposed 225 percent increase in its Distribution Service Charge for the 2025–2029 tariff period.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Monday, November 10, Mrs. Osei-Asare confirmed that ECG had significantly overspent its approved budget.
“The confirmed budget was GHS144 million, they ended up doing a little over GHS300 million. So the excess was about GHS189 million. We felt that they should clean their house because the reason they claim they are increasing tariffs is because they claim they are not raising enough revenue to enable them pay the IPPs and also take care of other equally important things,” she said.
Additionally, the PAC Chair disclosed that ECG has accumulated around GHS11.9 billion in its Cash Waterfall Mechanism account, which is used to pool all revenues prior to payments to Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
“Most of the people who come in there are not people who were there when these infractions were created or occurred. If for one reason or the other you feel that they will have to come once you draw our attention to it, the PAC, we have the powers of a high court, we can also summon them to appear before us to make their submission on an infraction that they have been,” Osei-Asare said.
Despite not being accountable for them, she commended a few current CEOs and institution leaders for their dedication to resolving legacy financial issues.
“There are a couple of CEOs and DGs who discharged themselves very well even though they were not there when all these infractions took place. A typical example was the CEO for MIIF; there was another from the Northern Development Authority. He had assumed the role, was it two or three months ago, but he had taken steps,” she added.
Mrs. Osei-Asare reaffirmed PAC’s dedication to advancing accountability and transparency throughout public institutions, emphasizing that efficient oversight is crucial to rebuilding public confidence in state-owned businesses.