President John Dramani Mahama has reaffirmed his commitment to bolstering the public sector by promising Ghanaians that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) will not be privatized during his administration.
He made these remarks in reaction to mounting worries over the potential privatisation of the nation’s primary power distributor, which is associated with a collapse attributed to excessive debt and bad management.
On Thursday, May 1, President Mahama spoke to employees at the 2025 May Day celebration in Accra’s Black Star Square. He described his intentions to enhance power distribution through public-private partnerships instead of complete privatisation.
“The ECG has been brought to its knees by a culture of poor governance over the last eight years, resulting in a debt of 68 billion Ghana cedis and rising,” he said.
“Our power system will fail if we don’t take proactive steps. Only by increasing the efficiency of power distribution will we be able to lower tariffs.
Declaring: “Let me assure you that it is not my intention to privatize ECG as an institution,” he was forceful in allaying concerns about privatisation. To improve the efficiency of our downstream electrical distribution system, we are focussing more on public-private cooperation.
Labour unions and other players in the electricity industry who have voiced worries over the possible privatisation of the ECG might find some respite in President Mahama’s remarks.