The Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Mahama, has vehemently dismissed claims that the Power Distribution Service’s (PDS) revenue collection performance surpassed that of ECG.
He described such comparisons as “intellectual dishonesty,” arguing that individuals are unfairly equating PDS’s revenue mobilization efforts with those of ECG.
In an interview with Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Channel One TV, the ECG Managing Director stated emphatically that ECG’s current revenue collection performance exceeds that of the PDS era.
“Right now, nobody can tell you that the PDS era was the best in terms of collection, no, it’s not true. PDS was for five months. You see people coming up with graphs that compare a five-month period with a whole year. That’s not being fair, that’s intellectual dishonesty.
“You need to be categorical and do it like-for-like and compare the maths, and make sure that you’re doing right by the company. The company currently is doing very well, even way better than the PDS era.”
He raised concerns about the business model that would be employed if ECG were to be a private-sector player similar to the model used by PDS.
“The point now is what is the business model that we want to see? We cannot run such a huge parastatal company like the way we run a cottage industry, where you have one basket. Everything comes into the basket then you put a paper, a pen and a ruler, this one goes here, this one goes here. No, you need to find a proper business model.
“Maybe you need to find people with a finance background in a room, to fashion out a business model for you. Where now you don’t pay for things on the spot. You have a better credit line, you pay for things with letters of credit and all of that.”
He recommended a thorough and holistic examination of the business approach, considering all facets of the organization.
“We need to have a holistic conversation, we need to look at the whole business approach and come out with a decision to say hey, this is where we’re going. But if the government will be able to give ECG the same Condition Precedent, I believe strongly we should be able to [work]”
In 2019, the Government of Ghana terminated the Concession Agreement with Power Distribution Services (PDS) Limited, effectively ending the company’s takeover of the Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) assets.
Source: citinewsroom.com