Akufo-Addo ordered Chief of Staff to sack “Inefficient” ECG boss

…Over IMF concerns, procurement deals, under declaration of revenue etc

The Herald’s findings into the departure of Samuel Dubik Mahama from his position as the Managing Director (MD) of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), have revealed that he was rather sacked, and his dismissal had nothing to do with pressure from the Akufo-Addo family to do things inimical to national interest.

This paper’s insiders, have revealed that he fell on his own sword. The Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, had written and signed Dubik Mahama’s dismissal letter on the instruction of the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, who was in the US at the time to address the United Nations (UN) General Assembly for the last time.

Issues for his dismissal, were his inefficiency, unscrupulous procurement contracts, poor relationship with workers, excessive foreign trips, under-declaration of revenue collected through the US$25 million Hubtel Mobile payment app and concerns raised by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) over the Cash Waterfall mechanism. These had become a severe headache for the Presidency.

However, what broke the camel’s back, The Herald picked, was that the ECG boss sent officers to the residence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) country rep in Ghana, and had his power supply disconnected for non-payment of bills. President Akufo-Addo, was embarrassingly accosted in the US by IMF chiefs, leading to Dubik Mahama’s immediate dismissal.

But to protect his records, The Herald learnt that, Dubik Mahama, the Chief of Staff, and others, told him to choose the easiest option of resignation, over an outright dismissal, which could taint his records, and he chose the resignation route, hiding behind “personal reasons”.

Strangely, there have since been allegations believed to be sponsored by him that he was kicked out for defying the Akufo-Addo family over some fuel procurement contracts.

Interestingly, the same Dubik Mahama, The Herald, has picked up, has been scheming to have the Presidency send him to the Energy Ministry as a “Technical Advisor”.

The Herald, was further informed that, the IMF boss and his office, had several times reached out to the ECG to have his meter changed because it was faulty and not reading.

He had complained severally, but ECG officials, were not responsive to addressing the issue, but rather insistent on disconnection which happened last week to the annoyance of the IMF.

Dubik Mahama’s non-responses to get the ECG meter at the residence of the IMF boss changed, despite several attempts by the Fund’s office in the country and despite several meter procurements, exposed his inefficiency to an institution which was arranging some US$200 million for the country as part of its bailout package.

Removing Dubik, who has since been in the UK, was also to convince the IMF that, reforms are on track, and to ensure the IMF disbursements kept flowing ahead of the 2024 elections.

Concerning revenue, there are also claims of an under-declaration of the ECG tariff Hubtel has been collecting from the public by the management of the state-owned company.

The new Board Chairman of ECG, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, is said to be determined to get to the bottom of the revenue issue and has since issued some orders with an emergency meeting summoned later this week.

Reports that Dubik Mahama, is a victim of the Akufo-Addo family’s interests within the power sector through fuel contracts, which some media outlets have portrayed him to be, is not true, The Herald picked up.

At best, he had created that image to give suppliers and others a false impression of his closeness to the Akufo-Addo family, exploiting that, including an inflated foreign exchange rate deal with Fidelity Bank.

Last week, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Yapei Kusawgu, John Abdulai Jinapor, claimed to have gotten information about details of the supposed happenings that led to lawyer Dubik Mahama’s leaving his position as the MD of ECG.

Speaking in an interview on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on September 26, 2024, John Jinapor, said Samuel Mahama’s ‘removal’ in a post shared on social media, indicated that the former ECG boss, was essentially forced to step down, for insisting that the Akufo-Addo government must follow the right procedures for the procurement of crude oil for the production of electricity.

He said that, the former ECG boss, was opposed to the method put in place by the immediate past Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, who is now Akufo-Addo’s Senior Advisor on the Economy, which made the former minister the one in charge of the procurement of the crude oil, contrary to laid down procedures.

He said that Dubik Mahama, decided to stand his ground to ensure that the right thing was done, despite pressure from a family member of the president, and that was his bane.

“I posted about five or ten minutes before the announcement came out, because I had gotten information that some people related to the president insisted on procuring light crude oil in a certain manner, which Dubik, the MD for ECG, resisted… Now, demand has tripped for the supply of gas and so there’s a deficit of about 60 mm scf. So, they have to procure light crude oil at about $40 million every month. That translates to about $180 million by the time this year ends. But that is not even the problem. The key problem is who procures the light crude oil. We’ve maintained that VRA, being the lead agency in the generation sector, should rather be procuring the light crude oil for the other entities.

“But when Ken Ofori-Atta was minister, he insisted that the procurement be done directly under his instructions and that ECG be instructed to pay directly without recourse to the Cash Waterfall mechanism. And you and I recall that PURC, has been up in arms with ECG, because when they do that, they no longer adhere to the principle of the Cash Waterfall mechanism. And so recently, Dubik, has tried to exercise his authority and to do what is right and proper,” the MP said.

He added, “That has led to the decision to kick him out. He was determined to do what is proper, what is right, and restore the Cash Waterfall mechanism such that if anybody wanted to buy fuel, it would reflect in the Cash Waterfall mechanism, and we would know those behind the procurement of fuel so that we could track it. But he was asked to exit and unfortunately, he exited. And that is why he cited personal reasons for his decision to exit. But the painful thing is that by the end of the year, we have a debt of about $480 million on account of light crude oil,” he said.

Dubik Mahama, in a letter to the Board Chairman of ECG, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, announced his resignation as MD of ECG, citing personal reasons.

Dubik Mahama, was appointed by President Akufo-Addo and resumed office on May 16, 2022.

He served as a non-executive director at ECG and has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors.

“I am writing to formally resign from my position as Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana, effective two weeks from the above date. The decision has not come easily, but after much reflection, I have concluded that it is in my best interest to step away for personal reasons.

“Over the past two years and four months. I have had the profound honour of serving this esteemed organisation, and I am truly grateful for the opportunities I have received. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Board for your unwavering support and guidance throughout my tenure. I also wish to express my sincere gratitude to the President for the trust placed in me, which has been a significant aspect of my journey here.”

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