The 2022 Auditor-General’s (A-G) report found that the Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) acquisition of metres, which surpassed $145 million, breached the Public Procurement Act.
The company was also unable to fully collect the excess of GH53.9 million discovered through surveillance and did not pursue legal action against customers involved in electricity theft, according to the report.
According to the report, if the ECG had dealt with consumers who committed power theft, it would have served as a deterrence to others.
The audit by the Auditor-General covered the period from August to December 2022 and examined the period from 2016 to 2021 at various ECG locations.
They included the headquarters, Metering and Technical Services (MTS) Division, the Materials and Depot in the Greater Accra Region, as well as four selected Regional and nine district offices.
“ECG signed 50 contracts to procure 862,750 meters and its accessories amounting to USD145,010,153.92 over the audit period without adhering to the requirement of the Public Procurement Act.”
“During our audit period, ECH was unable to recover all the GHC 53,988,463.31 that it detected through monitoring, and failed to prosecute customers who were engaged in power theft to serve as a deterrent to others,” the report said.
The A-G, Johson Akuamoah Asiedu in letter addressed to the speaker on June 2, 2023 recommended that the ECG should ensure all procurement activities comply with the Public Procurement Act to guarantee value for money.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
