General News of Monday, 2 February 2015
Source: Starrfmonline.com
Government must rescind any decision to privatize the Electricity Company of Ghana if it is serious about efficient management of the power distributor, civil society group the Integrated Social Development Centre, (ISODEC), has warned.
The group says it would lead a campaign to pressure government to annul its engagement with International Finance Corporation to privatize the ECG.
According to a high profile document intercepted by Starrfmonline.com, barring any last minute changes, the government of Ghana will this month select transaction advisors to aid the process.
The move follows a detailed research and analysis into the various options being considered by government in the management of ECG.
The private partner for ECG “is expected to strengthen and improve corporate governance and management, invest in needed infrastructure to expand services, reduce losses, and improve quality of service delivery.”
But Dr. Steve Manteaw, Director for ISODEC in an interview with Starr News said these engagements are being done on the blind side of some critical stakeholders.
“For me the challenge or the solution is not really about privatization…we need to do a proper diagnosis of the problem facing ECG and find a solution and not to quickly jump at privatization as an option,” Dr. Manteaw said.
Dr. Manteaw added: “We are worried about the fact that we have not had the opportunity to debate what are the diagnosis in this document…wisdom does not reside only in the heads of those in government in fact in many cases wisdom resides outside government”.