Kwadwo Poku, Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Policies and Research, has blamed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) IT department for the technical glitch that disrupted the company’s credit purchase system.
According to him, the Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik Masubir Mahama, has been attempting to implement some changes at the Company, particularly in terms of how the credit system is regulated but has encountered some resistance from the IT department, which controls the system.
While he did not accuse the IT staff of sabotage, he did emphasize that the ongoing standoff may be directly related to the system shutdown that ECG had suffered over the previous six days.
This comes after some ECG prepaid customers were left in the dark due to a technical issue that prevented them from purchasing credits for their metres.
Volta Region, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw, and Tafo customers were impacted.
On October 1, ECG stated that the vending issues had been resolved; nevertheless, some customers were still reporting issues on Sunday morning.
On JoyNews’ PM Express, he spoke on the subject, saying, “So the MD states, “Look, we need transparency.” We need checks and balances if our entire business is predicated on one person or one department controlling the credit system, so open it up and let the Director of Finance and other departmental heads see what is going on.
“What they do now is what is known as a database. So he wants to convert a database of how much credit they’ve sent to various regions and how much credit various regions have sent to various vendors into an accounting platform that can’t be manipulated. You can now apply that to your finances.
“Now what happens is that the Managing Director of ECG and his managers want information from the IT department.” That data is not forthcoming. Keep in mind that persons have been detained in the Ashanti region for selling these prepaid credit cards to customers, and they have been arrested and convicted. That is common knowledge.
“There are merchants across the country that do not appear on the ECG seller list. How do they obtain credit? So the MD is trying to improve things at ECG and insists on opening up the ECG IT department and seeing what’s going on. That’s where National Security comes in. “The National Security Agency did not arrive to steal source code for a third party,” he stated.
John Jinapor, the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Committee on Mines and Energy, has also asked for moderation in dealing with the concerns surrounding the system shutdown.
While the ECG’s IT department has been tainted as a result of the technological glitch, he believes it would be unjust to do so in the absence of tangible proof to back up such charges.
He has, however, stated that after the issue is fixed, the Management of ECG will be summoned to come before the Committee for an investigation into the reason for the breakdown.
“I have told the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Atta Akyea, once everything is settled, ECG should be invited to appear before the committee so that we can deal with this problem and gather all of the facts. Because you’re standing before a committee with the authority of a high court, and you’re sometimes under oath.
“However, I believe it is too soon to start accusing people directly. You might have your own suspicions, just as we do. And I’ve been quite cautious in disseminating a lot of the material I’ve gathered.
“In fact, I am aware that the IT department has worked around the clock to bring all this service back on and so let’s be very very careful not to pigeonhole people and demonize them.
“It is my hope that this investigation will be very very transparent and that the full details will be made available to the general public in terms of what really transpired and what we can do going forward. So I will plead with all of us to exercise maximum restraint in leveling accusations, “he said.
