Withdraw Unjustified GH¢5.8m fine Against Former Board Members – ECG Tells PURC

ECG has requested PURC to promptly retract the substantial GH¢5.8 million penalty levied on its previous board members.

On Tuesday, April 16, PURC slapped a significant GH¢5.8 million fine on past ECG board members who served from January 1 to March 18, 2024. This penalty was imposed due to various infractions, including the failure to furnish a load-shedding schedule following a string of power interruptions between January and March this year.

Additionally, PURC levied a GH¢36,000 fine and additional sanctions on the power distributor for its failure to comply with requests for data, which occurred on three consecutive occasions.

The requested data pertained to tariff revenue allocation under the Cash Waterfall Mechanism (CWM), regulatory audit data provision, operational information submission, and other related regulatory audit data.

In a letter dated Friday, April 19, Samuel Dubik Mahama, the Managing Director of ECG, asserted that the sanctions imposed on him and the board members are invalid and must be rescinded. He argued that these penalties violate the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission Act, of 1997 (Act 538).

Mr. Dubik Mahama stated that they had provided all the paperwork the PURC had asked for in their letter dated March 18th. He believed they deserved an opportunity to address any confusion or discrepancies if they arose.

“Following our above submissions, we strongly advise that the Commission immediately withdraws the Further Orders dated 15th April 2024, directed at ECG and its Board of Directors as same is NULL AND VOID. It is further advised that ECG should be given the opportunity to be heard on any charges of alleged breaches of its duties and obligations following the submission of its reports pursuant to PURC Orders dated 18th March 2024.

“Please take note that this request is without prejudice to ECG’s legal rights to seek an order of certiorari to quash the said orders, an order of prohibition against further arbitrary actions of the Commission and a mandamus to compel the Commission to hear ECG on the alleged breaches of its duties under the Act 538 and LI 2413.”