ECG Board fights GH¢5.8m PURC fine: We’re not responsible for daily operations

Board Members of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) indicted by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) for failing to provide a consistent load-management schedule have rejected a hefty fine imposed on them.

PURC on Tuesday, April 16, slapped a GH¢5.8 million fine on ECG board members who served from January 1 to March 18, 2024, for, among other things, failing to provide a load-shedding timetable after a series of power outages between January and March this year.

But in a letter to the Executive Secretary of PURC Dr Ishmael Ackah, lawyers of the affected board members argued that their clients are not responsible for the day-to-day administration of ECG and hence could not be held liable.

“Board members of ECG are not responsible for the day-to-day administration of ECG and, therefore, are not principal officers within the intendment of Act 538 to be able to be held liable for a default on the part of the public utility ECG.”

They also insisted that PURC’s order is unlawful, null, and void as same is without jurisdiction.

The lawyers also argued that PURC has unlawfully clothed itself with the powers of a High Court by imposing such a hefty fine on their clients.

“The Commission’s order imposing regulatory charges on the members of the board is unlawful, null and void as same is without jurisdiction. By this order, the Commission has unlawfully clothed itself with the powers of the High Court, and imposed a sentence on the Board Members, without having been given the opportunity to be heard which amounts to a breach of the rules of natural justice.”

“Our clients, therefore, reject the contents of the regulatory order relative to any personal liability on their part,” the lawyers further argued.

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