Energy Minister John Jinapor has disclosed a major fraud involving the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), totaling $500,000.
Speaking on TV3’s Hot Issues on February 16, 2025, he exposed the improper auctioning of crucial equipment intended for ECG.
Jinapor explained that ECG’s delay in clearing vital equipment from the port resulted in financial losses. He highlighted one particular incident where a container worth $500,000 was auctioned for just GHC100,000 and later resold to ECG for $300,000.
“I checked with the port, and the security report I received shows that a container worth about $500,000 was imported. ECG couldn’t clear it, and somehow, someone was able to buy it at auction for 100,000 Cedis, then resold it to ECG for $300,000,” he disclosed.
Calling the situation unacceptable, Jinapor pledged to take firm action to end such practices: “It will stop. And I mean it will stop. Whatever it takes to stop that, no matter how unpopular it may be, we must take action.”
The revelations have ignited public outrage and demands for an investigation into ECG’s procurement and auctioning procedures. Stakeholders are urging the government to adopt stricter measures to prevent further financial mismanagement.
In addition to the auction fraud, Jinapor revealed that ECG currently has about 3,000 containers stuck at ports, racking up GHS 1.5 billion in demurrage fees due to delays in clearance. He attributed this problem to what he described as “frivolous procurements.”
“It’s all because they are engaged in what I call very frivolous procurements. Now, they have about 3,000 containers stacked at the ports, generating GHS 1.5 billion in demurrage—that is very unacceptable. Some of the things they’ve procured will last them ten years; some will even expire in five years,” he stated.
To address these issues, Jinapor has set up a committee to investigate ECG’s procurement practices and evaluate the financial losses caused by mismanagement.
“So we’ve commissioned a committee to investigate ECG’s procurements and the cost of these containers stacked at the ports. The committee is doing a very good job,” he said.
Preliminary findings from the committee indicate that the previous management at ECG failed to follow proper procurement procedures. “The initial reports I’ve received show there’s widespread corruption at ECG,” Jinapor remarked.
