Former ECG MD Dubik Mahama allegedly awarded contracts without competitive bidding – Report

Government’s investigation has alleged severe procurement violations at the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), revealing that former Managing Director, Samuel Dubik Mahama, awarded contracts to specific suppliers without undergoing competitive bidding.

This practice allegedly led to excessive procurement spending, resulting in ECG exceeding its 2023 budget by billions of cedis.

The findings, presented in a final report to the Ministry of Energy & Green Transition, allege a pattern of procurement irregularities and financial mismanagement, which significantly contributed to ECG’s current financial crisis.

The Procurement Directorate—merged with the Premises & Estates Directorate in 2023—allegedly approved contracts under pressure from management, bypassing required procurement guidelines. The Director of Procurement, Premises & Estates admitted to the investigative committee that ECG procured materials far beyond its actual needs due to direct influence from Mahama.

“In as much as the containers kept piling up with resultant demurrage coupled with Management’s excuse of the unavailability of funds, ECG, through the then Managing Director, continued awarding new CIF contracts (without using competitive procurement methods) requiring the payment of Ninety percent (90%) of the contract sum when the supplier submits the shipping documents,” the report noted.

Read Also: Full Report: ECG management’s negligence led to GHS 909m demurrage losses – Investigation reveals

The lack of competitive bidding reportedly led to inflated contract prices and unnecessary procurements. ECG’s financial records indicate that the company exceeded its approved GHS 935 million procurement budget in 2023 by an additional GHS 7.3 billion, mainly due to excessive cable purchases.

The report further stated that ECG failed to account for 1,346 containers valued at USD 489 million. These containers, which contained vital electrical equipment like transformers and cables, were either missing or had been fraudulently cleared from the port.

Despite ECG citing a lack of funds as the reason for not clearing the containers, investigators found that the company had enough money to pre-finance a GHS 30 million clearing contract for a private company, Mint Logistics Ltd. Additionally, ECG awarded a GHS 127.65 million contract to another company that was not a registered Customs House Agent, violating procurement regulations.

The investigation suggests that ECG’s container backlog at the port was deliberately created to justify awarding third-party clearing contracts worth GHS 159.65 million.

The report raises concerns about financial mismanagement, lack of transparency, and possible corruption under Mahama’s leadership.

Read the full report below:

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