A letter from former Attorney General Gloria Akuffo, dated 2020, has surfaced online, revealing her legal opinion that supports the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)’s exemption from the Public Procurement Act under specific conditions.
In a letter dated July 28, 2020, addressed to then Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, the former Attorney General reviewed ECG’s request and referenced the Public Procurement Act of 2023.
She noted that, since ECG had been transformed from a public corporation into a limited liability company, it was no longer considered part of the public service.
She stated,” In light of the above, we advise as follows:
“ECG, though previously a public corporation was converted into a limited liability company through the Statutory Corporations (Conversions to Companies) Act, 1993 (Act 461) and is therefore not part of the public service as defined under chapter 14 of the Constitution, 1992.
“ECG being a commercial venture satisfies the conditions for exemption from applying the Public Procurement Laws to its procurement activities pursuant to section 15 of Act 663 as amended.”
This letter comes amid renewed scrutiny over procurement practices at ECG following allegations that former Managing Director, Samuel Dubik Mahama awarded contracts without competitive bidding.
Read the letter below:
JKB/EB
Meanwhile, catch up on the story of this 81-year-old man who shared a wall with Kwame Nkrumah and got to pluck mangoes from his backyard, below:
