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Government should be blamed for the poor management of the Electricity Company of Ghana, the Public Utilities Workers Union has said. According to the Union, the NPP administration’s failure to appoint a Board and acting Managing Director, four months after assuming office is negatively affecting ECG’s operations.

“Four months into the new government, a Company like ECG has no Board, and with an Acting Managing Director. How do you expect key decisions to be taken to ensure improvement in the Company’s operation,” a statement signed by the General Secretary of PUWU, Michael Nyantakyi said.

The Energy Minster, after the inauguration of a 7-member ECG PSP Stakeholders’ Committee in Accra outlined various challenges he claimed was negatively affecting ECG’s operations.

But speaking on Eyewitness News, the General Secretary of PUWU, Michael Adumatta Nyantakyi said it will be unfair to solely blame the ECG for these challenges.

“Government is supposed to provide subsidies but these subsidies are not coming and months and months, the services are being rendered. You cannot deny these inefficiencies but you cannot blame it on only ECG workers,” Mr Nyantakyi insisted. He believes government should be equally blamed for failing to “devise other alternatives to address” these challenges.

The Minister also said that the company’s debt stock is worsening by the day, adding that “What happens to the balance? You look at their inventory and they have 20 years’ supply of spares. You have locked up that money in spares that would be obsolete.” But Mr. Nyantakyi dismissed these claims saying the Minister was misguided.

According to him, “the assertion that ECG’s debt stock appears to be worsening by the day due to its faulty metering system and avoidable employee recklessness is not supported by the facts.”

He explained that contrary to the Minister’s claims, “the ECG’s currently average weekly collection is GH¢103,918,594.11, as against a target of GH¢130,000,000.”