We’re coming, we’ll collect all the debts – ECG boss tells debtors

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has announced that it will intensify the collection of debt owed to it, which stands at GHS5.7 billion.

The company’s Managing Director, Samuel Dubik Mahama, said that a task force had been deployed to collect the outstanding funds and would visit debtors every month to ensure prompt payment.

As part of the debt recovery exercise, the task force has visited several institutions, including Parliament, the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL), and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). While some institutions, such as Parliament, have committed to paying part of their debt, others have asked for more time to pay.

The ECG has introduced a digitalized system to monitor the amount of money collected from the debt recovery exercise, which Mr. Mahama said was yielding between 40 to 50 million Cedis daily since it began.

However, the Executive Director of the Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), Benjamin Baoakye, has called on the ECG to strike a balance between debt recovery and incentivizing power consumption.

To this effect, he explained that the company needs consumers to purchase and consume power to make a profit.

Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Pru East and former Minister of Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, partly blamed the ECG for the debt owed by institutions, accusing it of succumbing to pressure from government institutions not to act to retrieve its debt.

Mr. Mahama emphasized that the funds collected would be used to run the ECG’s operations, which are critical to Ghana’s economic growth. He urged debtors to settle their arrears promptly to ensure an uninterrupted power supply.

In conclusion, the ECG’s debt recovery exercise is a step in the right direction, as it will enable the company to run its operations and invest in the necessary infrastructure to provide efficient and reliable power supply.

However, the company must find a balance between debt recovery and incentivizing power consumption to avoid discouraging customers from using electricity.

It is also essential for government institutions and other debtors to settle their debts promptly to ensure an uninterrupted power supply and support the country’s economic growth.