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Bawumia’s claim ECG staff sabotaged paperless system inaccurate, misleading – PUWU
The Public Utilities Workers Union (PUWU) of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has disputed Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s assertion that officials of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) sabotaged the government’s digitalisation of revenue collection.
Dr Bawumia, at the Annual AGM of Anti-corruption Agencies in Africa on May 9, claimed that certain IT unit staff at ECG introduced ransomware to disrupt the system’s proper functioning.
He stated that the ransomware caused the system to fail and that national security intervention was required to identify the staff responsible for the sabotage.
However, the PUWU issued a statement on Monday, May 13, refuting the Vice President’s claims as “inaccurate and misleading.”
The Union further expressed disappointment over the Vice President’s assertion that the incident was a deliberate act by ECG staff to thwart a project beneficial to the company and Ghana.
It said in September 2022, EOCO began a forensic audit on the ECG Power App, requesting the payment platform architecture, databases, API documentation, and the power app custom source code, including backend prepayment systems credentials.
The Union pointed out that EOCO employed third-party IT professionals for the task, implying that ECG IT staff were not the only ones with access to ECG’s ICT infrastructure.
The Union indicated that the first ransomware attack, which occurred on September 28, 2022, was reported to the Cyber Security Authority, as per regulation.
It said following the attack, which was perceived as a national security threat, the National Security took control of the ECG ICT system.
“In the midst of the takeover, the second and most severe of the ransomware attacks occurred on the 11th November 2022, at the time the National Security personnel had both full physical access and software administrative rights to all ECG systems. The National Security arrested and detained some ECG ICT staff for days but were later released,” they said.
But the Union emphasised that it was the ECG ICT staff who led the system recovery effort, working day and night to restore the systems and even assisting National Security operatives on how to operate the ECG systems with support from E-crime Bureau, a cybersecurity firm invited by the ECG Board.
The statement said, “In all these cases, the systems were restored with the major assistance by the ECG ICT staff. It is, therefore, factually inaccurate that National Security came in to recover the system, as reported by His Excellency the Vice President.”
Source: Citinewsroom.com
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GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
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Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
