The Institute of Energy Security (IES) is urging government to ensure greater transparency and broader consultation in its proposed private sector participation (PSP) in the operations of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

Speaking on JoyNews' The Pulse on Tuesday, September 8, the Senior Research and Policy Analyst at the IES, Prosper Boahene, says the proposed arrangement must be subjected to proper scrutiny to address concerns among consumers, ECG workers and organised labour.

His comments follow opposition from the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which has raised concerns about the proposed involvement of private operators in Ghana’s electricity distribution sector.

Mr Boahene believes the experience with the previous Power Distribution Services (PDS) arrangement should inform any new attempt to introduce private participation into ECG.

“There is also this popular saying that policy failure, you know, and the failure to correct past failures is a recurring challenge,” he said.

He stressed the need for government to make the process more transparent and inclusive, arguing that this would help address concerns surrounding the proposed arrangement.

“How do we, if government is bent on involving a private participant in there, how do we open the space so that it is more transparent, it is more inclusive, it allays the fears of the ordinary Ghanaian, of the staff of ECG and TUC, for example?” he asked.

Mr Boahene also called for clarity on the nature and scope of the proposed private sector participation.

“And what type of PSP is government trying to enroll, and what is the magnitude of such operator's capacity?” he questioned.

According to him, the scope of the proposed arrangement is particularly important, given concerns that a private operator could potentially source and distribute power directly from the bulk supplier.

He said stakeholders must therefore examine whether the operations of the private participant should be restricted to specific areas of ECG’s distribution activities.

Mr Boahene further questioned the implications of such an arrangement for ECG’s assets and mandate.

“If she goes all the way down to getting power directly from the bulk supplier, what does it mean to the state of ECG's distribution assets or ECG's distribution mandate?” he asked.

He maintained that the concerns surrounding the proposal should be addressed through meaningful engagement among government, organised labour, ECG workers, consumers and other stakeholders.

“These are the critical policy questions that we need to ask, sit down and have a proper dialogue on this to be able to understand what the private participation seeks to bring out,” Mr Boahene said.