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Privatisation not the solution; gov't must pay ECG debts - NPP MP

President John Dramani Mahama had recently justified the need for government to secure a private investor in the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

 

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Obuasi East believes the ECG can be efficient if government pays debts owed the company.

Speaking at the Africa Mobile and ICT Expo in Accra, President Mahama said the partial privatization move being pursued by government is to enable the company become more efficient.

“…[People may argue that] Electricity is so important that it must be monopolized by the state, why are you allowing private sector in but we have had this system for years, and it’s not working. If it’s not working, we fix it.

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But the deputy ranking member of the parliamentary select committee on Energy believes the move by the government to privatise the ECG follows conditions set up by the International Monetary Fund, IMF.

“The ECG can be effective and efficient if what government owes to them is paid on time because anything they need to fix is about money...the ones that you want to come and take over, the private people, they will definitely have to come with money to fix some of the problems. So if ECG has a problem, they can fix the problem,” he told Radio Ghana in an interview.

Some civil society organisations such as the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas have suggested that the ECG float its shares on the Ghana Stock Exchange but the MP disagrees.

He argued that “Government raised Eurobond; it could also raise that money to ECG to fix their problem.”

Some private businesses have already tended in a bid for a Public- Private Partnership deal with the Electricity Company of Ghana, according to the Millennium Development Authority.

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Under the deal, government is supposed to go for one of several options of a Public- Private Partnership that will help the ECG collects its debts more efficiently.

And government has opted for a concessional partnership which will see a partner that will have exclusive rights to operate, maintain and invest in the ECG for a number of years.

However, the Public Utilities Workers’ Union have continued to mount pressure against the privatisation of the power distributor.

According to them, government will have to give up a lot under any kind of privatisation process. Government will either give away ownership in an outright takeover, or give away control in a concessionary arrangement.

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