The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has come under heavy scrutiny after an audit exposed missing revenue to the tune of GH₵490 million.
This was expected to be part of cash inflows collected between October and December 2023 for the operations of the state power company.
Specifically, these discrepancies were uncovered after the reconciliation of tariff and non-tariff revenue generated by ECG within the period.
The report, released by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), revealed a mismatch between the amounts reported by ECG and the actual funds recorded in its bank accounts.
It highlighted that ECG had reported total revenue of GH₵3.38 billion for the three months in question.
However, a detailed analysis of the head office bank accounts revealed that the total revenue amounted to GH₵3.87 billion, leading to the GH₵490 million difference.
According to the audit findings, this discrepancy was a result of the transfer process between ECG’s district and regional bank accounts to the central head office accounts.
Each month, funds from regional and district accounts are meant to be transferred to the 14 head office accounts, but the funds transferred do not match the amounts reported by the company.
The audit process included an extensive review of the relevant bank accounts used by ECG for its revenue collection and disbursements.
In response to the findings, the auditors recommended several measures to prevent future discrepancies.
These include the use of debit notes for fuel purchases, the implementation of internal reconciliation mechanisms, the use of revenue data from the ECG Cash Settlement Platform (ECSP) vendor, a review of the Single Collection Account, and the development of a more robust monitoring system for revenue allocation.
The report emphasises the need for greater transparency and more stringent internal controls to avoid such financial discrepancies in the future.