The Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu, John Abdulai Jinapor, has revealed damming details of what led to the resignation of the Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
In an interview with Dr. Randy Abbey on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana, the MP detailed that the former MD of ECG Lawyer Samuel Dubik Maha was ousted due to his insistence on following the right procedure in the procurement of crude oil.
John Jinapor in the interview on September 26, 2024, revealed that the former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, now president Akufo-Addo’s Senior Advisor on the Economy is in charge of the procurement of the crude oil, contrary to laid down procedures. He added that the former ECG Managing Director became a torn the flesh of president Nana Akufo Addo’s family.
He said “I posted about five or ten minutes before the announcement came out because I had gotten information that some people related to the president insisted on procuring light crude oil in a certain manner, which Dubik, the MD for ECG, resisted…”
He explained how light crude oil was procured before the adventure by the president’s cousin Ken Ofori-Atta.
He remarked that “demand has tripped for the supply of gas and so there’s a deficit of about 60 mm scf. So, they have to procure light crude oil at about $40 million every month. That translates to about $180 million by the time this year ends. But that is not even the problem. The key problem is who procures the light crude oil. We’ve maintained that VRA, being the lead agency in the generation sector, should rather be procuring the light crude oil for the other entities”.
According to the law maker “when Ken Ofori-Atta was minister, he insisted that the procurement be done directly under his instructions and that ECG be instructed to pay directly without recourse to the Cash Waterfall mechanism. And you and I recall that PURC has been up in arms with ECG because when they do that, they no longer adhere to the principle of the Cash Waterfall mechanism. And so recently, Dubik has tried to exercise his authority and to do what is right and proper.”
Espousing on Mahama’s resignation he emphasized, “That has led to the decision to kick him out. He was determined to do what is proper, what is right, and restore the Cash Waterfall mechanism such that if anybody wanted to buy fuel, it would reflect in the Cash Waterfall mechanism, and we would know those behind the procurement of fuel so that we could track it. But he was asked to exit and unfortunately, he exited. And that is why he cited personal reasons for his decision to exit. But the painful thing is that by the end of the year, we have a debt of about $480 million on account of light crude oil”.
Dubik Mahama who was appointed by President Nana Akufo-Addo in May 2022, resigned on September 26, 2024.