Member of Parliament for Effia Constituency, Isaac Boamah-Nyarko, has revealed that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has consistently been ranked among the top debtors to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), despite its aggressive campaign to collect debts from other state institutions.
His remarks follow recent disconnections by ECG as part of a nationwide revenue mobilisation effort. On Tuesday, June 17, Ghana Water Limited was disconnected over a GH¢999.6 million debt, followed by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), which reportedly owes GH¢3.15 million.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Wednesday, June 18, Boamah-Nyarko questioned ECG’s financial integrity and called for a broader national discussion on the viability of state utility operations, particularly regarding taxation and inter-agency debt.
“For the past three to four years, ECG has been one of the biggest debtors of the GRA. Every month, they are unable to even pay the taxes they declare. At a point, ECG carried almost 80% of the total government debt that GRA was holding, running into billions,” he said.
Boamah-Nyarko, a former GRA official, disclosed that ECG’s tax arrears became so critical that the revenue authority contemplated shutting the company down. Government intervention, however, saw ECG placed under the waterfall mechanism—a debt restructuring plan he says has failed to deliver results.
He also urged the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to adjust tariffs in line with operational costs, warning that failure to do so could collapse essential service providers such as ECG and Ghana Water Limited (GWL).
“We have the opportunity this time, with the depreciation of the dollar, to get PURC to review tariffs to a certain point. If you miss that point, you are in trouble. Tariffs must be set in a way that allows ECG or GWL to collect enough from the sales they make.”