Ghana’s state-owned Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has been criticised by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for overspending its approved budget by GH¢189 million without authorisation.
According to the 2024 Auditor-General’s Report, the power distributor exceeded its GH¢144 million budget, spending a total of GH¢333 million — more than double the approved amount.
During a tense committee sitting, Ranking Member Samuel Atta Mills accused ECG’s management of “financial indiscipline” and a blatant disregard for Ghana’s Public Financial Management laws.
“On staff fuel, ECG budgeted GH¢2.8 million but spent GH¢3.6 million,” the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem MP said. “Did they drive around the world?”
The audit found large overruns across multiple expenditure items:
- Communication expenses: budgeted GH¢4.2m, spent GH¢7.9m
- Consultancy: budgeted GH¢40m, spent GH¢58.6m
- Industrial relations: budgeted GH¢2m, spent GH¢13m
- Stakeholder engagements: budgeted GH¢3.1m, spent GH¢49m
- Publicity: budgeted GH¢5.7m, spent GH¢21.8m
- Professional fees: budgeted GH¢731,000, spent GH¢1.5m
- Overseas travel: budgeted GH¢14m, spent GH¢29.8m
- Call centre operations: budgeted GH¢23.5m, spent GH¢29.3m
Mr Atta Mills urged that officials responsible for the overspending be sanctioned under Section 96 of the Public Financial Management Act (Act 921), which provides for penalties against unauthorised expenditure.
“This level of recklessness cannot go unpunished,” he said. “Those managers who were involved should face the Attorney-General for prosecution — it’s that simple.”
The revelations come amid growing public frustration over high electricity tariffs and complaints about ECG’s operational inefficiencies.
While ECG officials told the committee that some of the spending was necessary for operational reasons, the PAC said it would pursue further hearings to ensure accountability.
Source:TheDotNews