The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has come under fire for blowing past its budget by a staggering GHS189.2 million without approval, sparking outrage from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The utility company's Chief Executive and management team were grilled over the unapproved spending, which saw ECG's expenditure balloon to GHS333 million, nearly double its approved budget of GHS144 million.

 Key Areas of Overspending:

Overseas travel: ECG spent GHS 29.8 million, more than double the budgeted GHS14 million

Call Centre Operations: GHS 29.3 million spent, exceeding the budget of GHS23.5 million

Communication Expenses: GHS7.9 million spent, nearly double the budget of GHS4.2 million

Consultancy Fees:GHS58.6 million spent, exceeding the budget of GHS40 million

Stakeholder Expenses: GHS49 million spent, far exceeding the budget of GHS3.1 million

 The PAC has condemned ECG's actions as "financial indiscipline" and is calling for sanctions against the officers responsible. Ranking Member on the Committee, Samuel Atta-Mills emphasised that the level of recklessness cannot go unpunished and recommended that those managers involved face prosecution by the Attorney-General.

According to him, this development comes as ECG continues to push for tariff increases amid public frustration over high electricity bills and operational inefficiencies.