The Director-General of the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA), Professor Michael Kpessa-Whyte, has asserted that the move to privatize the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) requires a much deeper analysis.
Prof Kpessa-Whyte emphasized that the proposed privatization of the state power distributor will affect a larger portion of the populace.
“ECG is not just an institution like any other business out there. It’s a strategic institution. It affects every household in this country, every business, and every business opportunity. Any decision on whether ECG should remain state-owned or otherwise should be thought through carefully,” he said on Accra-based TV3’s Hot Issues show.
The SIGA boss emphasized that privatization is not the only solution for improving ECG’s operations.
He proposed contracting out some of the operations at the state power distributor to other companies instead of privatizing it entirely.
“We can, for instance, do contracting out. Contracting out simply means, is there an aspect of the operations of ECG that we can contract out so that we can inject some efficiency into the operations of ECG?” he noted.
Meanwhile, Prof Kpessa-Whyte explained SIGA has not yet taken a firm position on the issue.
He noted that the institution is currently analyzing the reports received from ECG for 2024, particularly focusing on a governance analysis of ECG.
This analysis will help determine the effectiveness of past decisions and their contributions to the challenges faced by ECG.
“Well, as SIGA, we have not taken a firm position on that. We are analyzing the reports from ECG for 2024 and have called for a governance analysis of ECG to understand the decisions made and how they have contributed to the issues that have surfaced in the public domain. Hopefully, by next week, that report will be ready, and we will be able to decide on the next steps,” he said.
