A Culture of Impunity: Why ECG’s Reform Must Begin with Dismissals and Transfers at the Top
By Benjamin Nsiah
4th November, 2025
The recent scrutiny faced by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) before the nation’s Public Accounts Committee has cast a harsh light on a persistent and deeply troubling issue of systematic overspending of public funds and frivolous procurements. While the staggering financial figures rightly provoke public anger, a more insidious narrative that lies beneath the surface is a leadership culture characterized by a profound sense of impunity. The continuous existence of certain leadership including deputy managing director, finance officers, procurement officers and other operational heads who form the operational backbone of the company, represents a direct affront to the principles of good governance. Their retention is not merely a continuity of personnel but an implicit endorsement of the financial recklessness that has occurred. Their dismissal or transfer, from the company therefore, is not simply a punitive action but necessary and foundational step toward cleansing a moribund institution and signaling a genuine commitment to change.
The fundamental role of deputy managing directors and other operational heads is to translate strategic vision into operational reality. They are directly responsible for overseeing critical departments such as Finance, Procurement, Corporate Services, Commercial services, Operations and Engineering, and Human Resources which are the very areas where budgetary control is either rigorously enforced or fatally undermined. Persistent and systematic overspending cannot be dismissed as a mere accounting anomaly, but a catastrophic failure of internal controls and managerial oversight. For the heads of departments and deputies in charge, this constitutes a direct dereliction of their professional and fiduciary duties to the state and the Ghanaian people. To claim they were merely following instructions is to absolve them of the accountability their positions demand. Their continued presence in these pivotal roles sends a dangerous message that there are no consequences for failure, thereby creating a perverse incentive structure that all but guarantees future financial breaches.
Ghana’s own recent corporate history provides a clear and powerful precedent for the consequences of inaction versus the benefits of enforcing accountability. The clean-up of the banking and financial sector, though a difficult process, was a masterclass in holding leadership responsible for institutional failure. The regulatory authority did not merely shutter insolvent institutions; it first removed the directors and management whose poor governance, reckless spending, and self-dealing led to the collapse. The message was unequivocal, failure at the helm carries severe consequences. The result was a more stable and resilient, if consolidated, financial sector where surviving institutions were compelled to adhere to stringent corporate governance standards. Therefore, it is surprising to note that many of the human resources who supervised these reckless expenditure are at post.
The argument often advanced for retaining senior management and other heads which is the need for “continuity” is a fallacy in this context. What continuity do they offer but the continuity of failure and the same flawed processes? The institutional knowledge they possess is often the knowledge of how to navigate and exploit a broken system, not the expertise required to fix it. A new leadership team, potentially blending promising internal talent with external private-sector expertise, would bring the requisite urgency, innovation, and objectivity needed to streamline ECG’s operations, plug revenue leakages, and instill a lasting culture of fiscal discipline.
Globally, the restructuring of corporate governance in troubled organizations almost invariably involves significant executive turnover. This is a recognized strategy to improve operational efficiency, combat fraud, and restore stakeholder confidence. International studies have shown that boards which value accountability are more likely to dismiss top executives for poor performance. Furthermore, the removal of executives who are closely connected to a period of problematic management has proven to be an effective measure in combating corporate malfeasance and signaling a break from the past.
Landmark legislative frameworks, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act passed in 2002 in the United States, established a global precedent by emphasizing that transparent and accountable leadership is non-negotiable. Such reforms frequently necessitate a change in leadership to ensure compliance, enhance the integrity of financial reporting, and regain the trust of stakeholders. Even in challenging regulatory environments, the enforcement of accountability through executive turnover has been demonstrated to lead to tangible improvements in corporate governance, disproving the notion that entrenched systems cannot be changed.
The revelations from the Public Accounts Committee are merely symptoms of a far deeper disease which is a critical deficit in leadership and accountability. The governing board and the responsible ministry must now demonstrate that they are serious about substantive reform. Allowing the deputy managing directors and other heads of department to remain in their positions after such a public indictment of the company’s financial management is an act of profound negligence. To restore public trust, attract much-needed investment, and ensure the long-term financial sustainability of Ghana's primary power distributor, accountability must start unequivocally at the top throughout to the bottom.
A sustainable reform agenda for ECG must extend beyond the necessary dismissal of underperforming executives. It requires the implementation of a robust governance framework designed to prevent a recurrence of such issues. This includes strengthening both internal and external audit functions, refining the company’s governance structure to ensure clear lines of responsibility, and enforcing transparent financial practices that are open to public scrutiny.
In conclusion, the dismissal or transfer of the deputy managing directors and other heads of departments at ECG is a strategic and imperative move toward ensuring accountability and rebuilding effective corporate governance. Drawing from both Ghana’s own experiences and global best practices, it is clear that restructuring leadership is a critical step in addressing profound financial mismanagement. Comprehensive reform, combining decisive leadership changes with a strengthened governance framework, is not just an option but an essential undertaking for ECG to navigate its current crises and emerge as a more transparent, efficient, and trustworthy organization. The lights at ECG cannot be reliably fixed until the failed custodians of its finances are shown the door.