Kwabena Nyarko Otoo, Deputy Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Ghana, has issued a strong warning against any attempts by the government to privatise the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), calling such a move “misguided and historically disastrous”.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Friday (11 April), Nyarko Otoo criticised the government’s push for private sector participation in ECG’s operations, describing it as a short-sighted policy that prioritises profits over jobs and public welfare.
“We have a history of privatisation in this country. That hasn’t gone well,” he said.
“If you remember Ghana Telecom under President Kufuor, we were promised investments, jobs, and better services. Vodafone took over, and now those promises have all fallen flat. Over 4,000 jobs were lost, and today, Telecel hasn’t invested in the way we were told they would.”
Otoo argued that ECG’s core challenges stem not from public ownership but from political interference and poor management, insisting that efficiency can be achieved if appointments are based on merit rather than party loyalty.
“It’s a simple matter of politicians taking their hands off ECG, appointing competent people and giving them KPIs. If they deliver, we reward them. If not, we sack them. It’s not a matter of bringing in the private sector.”
He questioned the rationale behind allowing the private sector to manage only ECG’s revenue collection—the most profitable area—while leaving the inefficiencies in generation and transmission untouched.
“Why only target where the money is?” he asked.
“Privatisation, especially in this selective form, is not the answer.”
The TUC, Otoo emphasised, has always opposed privatisation and is prepared to resist any similar moves affecting ECG.
He pointed to the union’s successful resistance against the sale of state-owned hotels last year and promised that similar strategies would be deployed in this case.
Despite past compromises—such as during the failed PDS concession—he assured Ghanaians that the TUC’s current stance is resolute.
“I’m sure it won’t change,” he declared.
Otoo also called for structural reforms within ECG, including a stakeholder board made up of civil society and trade unions to dilute political influence and mandatory performance evaluations for leadership at all levels.
“We need state entities that are efficiently managed. The idea that the state cannot do business efficiently is false,” he said, citing China and South Korea as examples where state enterprises thrive under proper governance and market discipline.
The TUC’s position is grounded not only in ideological resistance to privatisation but also in the desire to protect Ghanaian jobs and livelihoods.
“We suspect ECG privatisation will destroy jobs. And we must fight against any move by government or others that threatens employment in this country.”
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