The Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu, John Abdulai Jinapor, has given details of the supposed happenings that led to lawyer Samuel Dubik Mahama leaving his position as the Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
Speaking in an interview on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on September 26, 2024, John Jinapor, who hinted at Samuel Mahama’s ‘removal’ in a post shared on social media, indicated that the former ECG boss was essentially forced to step down for insisting that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government must follow the right procedures for the procurement of crude oil for the production of electricity.
He said that the former ECG boss was opposed to the method put in place by the immediate past Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, who is now Akufo-Addo’s Senior Advisor on the Economy, which made the former minister the one in charge of the procurement of the crude oil, contrary to laid down procedures.
He said that Dubik Mahama decided to stand his ground to ensure that the right thing was done despite pressure from a family member of the president, and that was his bane.
“I posted about five or ten minutes before the announcement came out because I had gotten information that some people related to the president insisted on procuring light crude oil in a certain manner, which Dubik, the MD for ECG, resisted… Now, demand has tripped for the supply of gas and so there’s a deficit of about 60 mm scf. So, they have to procure light crude oil at about $40 million every month. That translates to about $180 million by the time this year ends. But that is not even the problem. The key problem is who procures the light crude oil. We’ve maintained that VRA, being the lead agency in the generation sector, should rather be procuring the light crude oil for the other entities.
“But when Ken Ofori-Atta was minister, he insisted that the procurement be done directly under his instructions and that ECG be instructed to pay directly without recourse to the Cash Waterfall mechanism. And you and I recall that PURC has been up in arms with ECG because when they do that, they no longer adhere to the principle of the Cash Waterfall mechanism. And so recently, Dubik has tried to exercise his authority and to do what is right and proper,” the MP said.
He added, “That has led to the decision to kick him out. He was determined to do what is proper, what is right, and restore the Cash Waterfall mechanism such that if anybody wanted to buy fuel, it would reflect in the Cash Waterfall mechanism, and we would know those behind the procurement of fuel so that we could track it. But he was asked to exit and unfortunately, he exited. And that is why he cited personal reasons for his decision to exit. But the painful thing is that by the end of the year, we have a debt of about $480 million on account of light crude oil,” he said.
About the ECG boss resignation:
Samuel Dubik Mahama, in a letter to the Board Chairman of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, announced his resignation as Managing Director of ECG.
Dubik Mahama was appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and resumed office on May 16, 2022.
He served as a non-executive director at ECG and has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors.
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