Accra: A recent report by the Auditor General has uncovered gross financial infractions at the nation's power distributor, the Electricity Company of Ghana Limited (ECG). The report, which covered the company's finances for the 2023 financial year, showed that the then management of the company spent millions on 13 expenditure items without the requisite approval of its board.
According to Ghana Web, eleven of the expenditure items were listed by the Ranking Member of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, Samuel Atta Mills, at a recent sitting of the committee on the report, which showed that the company overspent its budget by almost GHS170 million without the approval of its board. For some of the items, the company overspent its budget by about GHS60 million.
The breakdown of some of the items is as follows: foreign training had a budgeted amount of GHS31 million, but actual spending soared to GHS91 million. Cleaning expenses were budgeted at GHS2.8 million, yet GHS10.4 million was spent. Honorarium expenses exceeded the budget of GHS3.8 million by GHS800,000, reaching GHS4.6 million.
Hotel expenses, which were budgeted at GHS9.3 million, saw actual spending of GHS12.2 million. Staff fuel expenses surpassed the budgeted GHS2.8 million, amounting to GHS3.6 million. Communication expenses were budgeted at GHS4.2 million, but actual expenses were nearly doubled at GHS7.9 million.
Consultancy expenses were budgeted at GHS40 million, yet the actual spending was GHS58.6 million. Industrial relations had a budget of GHS2 million, but the expenses reached GHS13 million. Stakeholder expenses, initially budgeted at GHS3.1 million, saw an actual expenditure of GHS49 million.
Additionally, publicity expenses increased significantly from a budget of GHS5.7 million to an actual spending of GHS21.8 million. Professional fees and subscriptions were budgeted at GHS731,000, but the spending was more than double at GHS1.5 million.