Poor Leadership Undermining Efficiency in Power Sector – Financial Expert

By: Solomon Nartey Tetteh

Financial expert Nelson Cudjoe Kuagbedzi has attributed the persistent efficiency challenges facing Ghana’s power sector, particularly the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), to weak leadership and a lack of political will.

Speaking on Business Breakfast on Zed, Mr. Kuagbedzi said leadership failures over the years have prevented authorities from effectively addressing systemic inefficiencies, with significant consequences for the operations and financial sustainability of power sector institutions.

“Efficiency is key to their operations, but over the years, leadership has failed to deal with this issue. That failure has had an enormous impact, especially on ECG,” he stated.

According to him, the broader challenge confronting the country is leadership that lacks commitment and accountability.

“One of the biggest problems of this country is leadership. Once we have the right leadership who are committed to doing what they are supposed to do, we can overcome these efficiency challenges,” he noted.

Mr. Kuagbedzi questioned the logic behind current operational practices in the power sector, particularly the accumulation of debt.

“Why would you buy power on credit, not pay for it, and still continue to consume power? How do you expect ECG to survive under such conditions?” he asked.

He stressed the need for leadership to decisively identify and block revenue leakages within the system, noting that although management often claims to be addressing these challenges, the results have been inadequate.

“They tell us they are working on it, but clearly the recovery rates and percentages being raked in are not enough. We need to relook at our collection strategy,” he said.

Mr. Kuagbedzi recalled a period when ECG management took firm action against defaulters, including government institutions.

“There was a time, the managing director of ECG was disconnecting even government institutions that failed to pay. That kind of action requires strong political will and government support,” he explained.

He lamented that such tough decisions are often met with resistance, discouraging decisive leadership.

Mr. Kuagbedzi also criticised non-payment of electricity bills by public institutions, including universities, insisting that no entity should consume power without paying.

“Students pay for electricity in public universities. If the universities are not paying ECG, they should be disconnected. You cannot consume power for free,” he stressed.

Mr. Kuagbedzi urged government and sector leaders to demonstrate firmness and accountability to restore efficiency and financial discipline in the power sector.