Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has called for structural reforms at the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), arguing that improved revenue collection, operational efficiency and financial discipline are key to addressing the company’s financial challenges.

He said ECG must tackle systemic inefficiencies and revenue leakages rather than continue to rely on tariff increases that place additional financial burdens on consumers.

In a Facebook post reflecting on his participation in a luncheon for former ECG Managing Directors and Board Chairpersons, Mr Afenyo-Markin said the company’s challenges required a national dialogue on structural reform rather than partisan blame.

The event, organised at the Accra Marriott Hotel on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, was held at the invitation of ECG Managing Director Kwame Kpekpena.

Mr Afenyo-Markin, who served as ECG Board Chair from September 29, 2024, to January 6, 2025, said his brief tenure gave him insight into the pressures confronting the power distributor.

He noted that Ghanaian consumers had absorbed tariff increases exceeding 28 per cent over the preceding 19 months, insisting that further increases would not resolve the underlying structural problems.

“The central question remains: how do we make ECG financially sustainable, operationally efficient, and reliable without continually passing its inefficiencies on to the Ghanaian consumer?” he asked.

Mr Afenyo-Markin said ECG’s Loss Reduction Programme, introduced in 2023 under the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration, had delivered significant results by addressing faulty meters, outdated billing systems and illegal connections.

Citing figures presented at the company’s Annual General Meeting, he said ECG’s loss after tax declined from GH¢8.25 billion in 2024 to GH¢2.52 billion in 2025, representing a reduction of almost 70 per cent.

He added that the company’s revenue increased from GH¢19.6 billion to GH¢22.1 billion over the same period, while new connections rose by 31.3 per cent to 222,979.

Prepaid customers, he said, now account for 53.5 per cent of ECG’s customer base.

“Reform has achieved what tariff increases alone could not,” he stated.

However, the Minority Leader cautioned that the gains would not be sustained unless ECG addressed persistent revenue leakages.

He said faulty meters, inaccurate bills, under-billing, unbilled customers and unreliable customer records continued to undermine the company’s revenue mobilisation efforts.

According to him, if just five per cent of ECG’s more than three million customers had faulty meters, at least 150,000 accounts could be inaccurately billed, resulting in substantial monthly losses.

He called for tighter collection controls, improved reconciliation systems, stronger field inspection teams and consistent sanctions against offenders.

He also urged ECG to strengthen collaboration with communities, local assemblies and traditional authorities to combat illegal connections and revenue losses.

Mr Afenyo-Markin further proposed an integrated revenue-protection system incorporating a centralised customer database, smart prepaid meters with remote monitoring, geographic information system mapping, digital payment platforms and automated reconciliation.

He said data analytics and artificial intelligence could also help identify abnormal consumption patterns, while revenue dashboards and automated reporting systems would improve monitoring and accountability.

“ECG must close its revenue leakages before it reaches for tariff increases or new levies,” he stressed.

The Minority Leader warned that ECG’s indebtedness had become a broader fiscal concern for the state, with unpaid obligations affecting grid maintenance, critical infrastructure upgrades and payments to independent power producers.

He cited the State Interests and Governance Authority’s 2025 State Ownership Report, which placed ECG among state-owned enterprises with substantial liabilities.

To address the problem, he called for strict enforcement of the revised Cash Waterfall Mechanism to ensure collections were channelled through a single audited account and obligations to power-sector stakeholders were met transparently.

He also proposed renegotiating legacy “take-or-pay” power purchase agreements on “take-and-pay” terms that better reflect actual demand.

Additionally, he urged the Ministry of Finance to institute automatic monthly deductions to settle arrears owed to ECG by ministries, departments, agencies and other public institutions.

He argued that periodic government bailouts should give way to stronger institutional discipline and more sustainable financial management.

Mr Afenyo-Markin also highlighted procurement practices he said had exposed ECG to unnecessary financial risks during his tenure as Board Chair.

He explained that some vendors were previously able to deliver goods to the port and present bills of lading to ECG without adequate verification of the goods received.

According to him, the arrangement exposed the company to financial obligations before it had taken custody of the goods, while also increasing the risk of port charges, delays, damage and disputes.

He said he led the Board to introduce a requirement linking contractual completion and payment to verified delivery at ECG’s own facilities.

He stressed that the reform must be sustained to strengthen accountability and protect the company’s resources.

In concluding his remarks, Mr Afenyo-Markin said Ghana’s power-sector recovery depended on a decisive shift from extracting additional revenue from consumers to improving operational governance.

He called for the full implementation of the Loss Reduction Programme, including boundary metering, smart prepaid meters and systematic detection of electricity theft, alongside strict enforcement of the Cash Waterfall Mechanism.

These measures, he argued, would enable the state to recover lost revenue at source rather than repeatedly increase tariffs for consumers.

The Minority Leader expressed appreciation to ECG Managing Director Kwame Kpekpena and his team for the invitation, describing the luncheon as an opportunity for reflection and candid exchange on the company’s future.