Ghana: ECG ICT Directorate Began Revenue Collection Digitalisation In 2016–ECG Workers’ Response To Bawumia

The staff of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has challenged a claim by the Vice President of Ghana, Dr Muhamadu Bawumia, that they sabotaged the government’s effort to digitalise ECG’s revenue collection.

According to the workers, Dr Bawumia’s claim of sabotage is not only unfounded but also dampens the morale of the hardworking ECG workers, especially those working in the IT Department.

Disputing the claim by Vice President Bawumia which seems to suggest that the power distribution company began digitalisation under the current administration, the ECG staff said the ICT Directorate already spearheaded the digitalisation of the ECG payment systems with the rollout of the ECG PowerApp and USSD(*226#) services dating in July 2016.

The staff said Dr Bawumia was only invited as a Guest of Honor on the 18th of February 2020 to launch the ECG PowerApp at the Head Office of ECG.

“ECG’s financial performance is a matter of public record, as indicated in the company’s 2019 Annual Report. The average monthly revenue for the period 2017 to 2019 was around GHS532.7 million. In the 2023 signed SIGA–ECG Performance Contract, the average monthly revenue was GHS631.3 million as of early 2022. These documents are available to the public on the ECG website.

“The ECG IT Department has been at the forefront of digitalising revenue collection for decades, a fact that seems to have been overlooked. The sophisticated ransomware attack attributed to internal sabotage has been proven to be the work of an international cybercriminal group (Lockbit), which further exonerates our members from such erroneous claims,” the workers said in a statement issued by Michael Adu Mattah, General Secretary of Public Utilities Workers’ Union ( PUWU).

The ECG staff said they prioritise initiatives that enhance efficiency and service delivery.

“We further wish to put on record that the enhancement of aspects of digitalisation into ECG work processes by the current Management has improved convenience to our customers and commitment exhibited by staff has been the pivot of any observed Improvement especially in the area of revenue mobilization.”

The workers expressed awareness of attempts to privatise ECG and urged stakeholders to refrain from disparaging hardworking members.

“We are fully aware of the several attempts by some key stakeholders to push for the privatisation of ECG and the deliberate attempt to give ECG a bad name and hang it. We urge key stakeholders to refrain from disparaging our hardworking members and instead recognise their contributions to national development, in the face of many challenges including the shortage of critical resources for smooth operations,” the workers said.

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com