Key Points
- Samuel Mahama defends under-declaration as not a criminal offense.
- ECG’s revenue went toward salaries and maintenance costs.
- Foreign exchange volatility impacted ECG’s financial reporting.
Samuel Dubik Mahama, the former managing director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), has stated that underreporting income is not a crime. In response to allegations that ECG had overlooked millions of dollars in revenue, he said the problem was more complicated than it first seemed.
Samuel Mahama: Under-declaration is not a criminal offense
In an interview with Isaac Kofi Agyei of JoyNews on The Pulse on Thursday, Mahama stated that “under-declaration is not a criminal offense.”
He clarified that the corporation had to pay for operating expenses like payroll and infrastructure upkeep before sending money to the state, which is why there were revenue disparities.
Operational costs cited as reason for revenue discrepancies
“Let’s examine ECG’s salary bill. Let’s think about how much ECG requires to maintain the lights in your districts, including line maintenance. He argued, “If ECG gives away all the money it receives, where do you expect ECG to get that money from?”
Mahama also identified foreign exchange volatility as a significant cause, stating that changes in the US dollar’s value raised expenses for the business and made it more difficult to balance revenue reporting.
Between October and December 2023, ECG under-declared GH₵490 million, according to the 2025 Ghana Energy Sector Recovery Programme (GESRP) report.
