The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is challenging government’s distinction between private sector participation (PSP) and privatisation in its proposed arrangement for the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, the Deputy Secretary-General of the TUC, Dr Kwabena Nyarko Otoo, insists the proposed PSP arrangement amounts to privatisation, despite government’s position that it is not seeking to sell ECG’s assets.

“Government said that it is doing PSP, private sector participation. And we say that PSP and privatization are one and the same,” Dr Otoo said.

He argued that the concept of privatisation should be understood beyond the outright sale of all state assets.

He noted that previous privatisation exercises did not necessarily involve the sale of 100 percent of a company but could involve the transfer of controlling ownership.

“In the original privatization exercise, government did not sell everything 100%. It only sold a controlling share in the company,” he explained.

Dr Otoo said the TUC’s major concern is what the proposed arrangement could mean for ECG’s role and control over its assets.

He argued that government’s assurance that the assets would not be sold does not adequately address the union’s concerns if a private operator is given control over the distribution function.

“Government says that we are not selling the assets, so ECG then is an asset management company, where workers used to manage an asset to a company that has been registered and has operated for decades to distribute power is now reduced to an asset management company,” he said.

“That is our difficulty,” he added.

The TUC’s position comes amid government’s consideration of private sector involvement in ECG, which has been presented as a measure to improve efficiency in the electricity distribution sector.

However, organised labour has raised concerns about the structure of the proposed arrangement and its implications for ECG workers, the state and consumers.