Parliament pays GH¢8.5m to ECG

Parliament has made part payment of its indebtedness to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

This was after it paid GH¢8.5 million out of GH¢13 million owed the ECG so as to prevent its disconnection from the national grid. 

The part payment was made after Revenue Mobilisation Taskforce of the ECG visited the House yesterday.

Administrative officials at the Parliament House made the payment through ECG’s approved bank after discussions with the task force. 

Parliament’s payment was made in two instalments, GH¢3.5 million was via cheque processed electronically while GH¢5million was to be paid through the Ministry of Finance’s GIFMIS.

ECG’s External Communications Manager, Laila Abubakari, who confirmed that said, the debt being retrieved would be paid to the approved payment portals as the taskforce was not receiving cash.

“We are not accepting cash and so everyone who will be making payment will do it through the electronic process or the banks.

“Yes, Parliament made part payment, issuing a cheque for GH¢3.5 million with an additional  GH¢5 million to be paid by the Finance Ministry through the GIFMIS platform, so in total, an amount of GH¢8.5 million was paid,” she said.

Reconciliation

A source close to Parliament reacting to the incident said it had asked for a re-assessment of its bill for proper reconciliation.

“We are asking for a re-assessment of the bill standing in the name of Parliament because it seems that is for the entire Parliament enclave that includes other units and even the individual homes within the enclave.

“Once that is done, the actual bill in the name of the establishment will be known ,” a source close to Parliament told the Daily Graphic.

Airport Company

In a related development , the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) has also  paid GH¢10 million out of its GH¢28million arrears.
The GACL has also agreed on a payment plan to settle the remaining GH¢18 million in two weeks.

Ms Abubakari said the taskforce would continue its exercise and customers who had unsettled bills would be given the opportunity to agree to payment plans to settle their debt.

Exercise 

The ECG yesterday began a nationwide revenue mobilisation exercise to recover all unpaid bills amounting to GH¢5.7 billion from its customers.

The exercise, which will last for a month, targets domestic users, businesses, organisations, ministries, departments and state agencies for power already consumed from 2022 to February this year.

Last week, the ECG announced that it would embark on a revenue mobilisation exercise from March 20 to April 20, 2023, to recoup all debts owed by all categories of customers, including state owned enterprises (SOEs).