The Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Mahama has confirmed that former President John Dramani Mahama has been paying his own electricity bills.
Mahama in an exclusive interview with TV3 in 2022 said that all he receives from the government is his monthly pension and that all other bills the state must cater for have not been attended to since he left office in 2017.
Mahama said he is footing a myriad of bills, including light, fuel, office rent, and travel expenses.
Responding to a question in an interview with Peace FM’s Kokrokoo on April 17, 2023, Samuel Dubik Mahama, explained that the electricity company collates all former presidents’ bills and sends them to the Chief of Staff for payment, however, when they received former President Mahama’s bills, they realized that he had already been paying his own bills.
The MD admitted that the fault lies with the electricity company for not doing their job well. He further explained that they are supposed to read the former president’s meter and send the bills to the Chief of Staff for payment.
“We collate all former president’s bills and we send them to the Chief of Staff for payment.
“Let me break it down, former President Kufour’s bills are with us, we gave them to the Chief of Staff and she has worked on them. We also had former President John Mahama’s own…we tried to get in touch with him, and when we got the bills, for him, he has already been paying his own bills…Yes, he pays his own bills.
“So, from now onwards we are going to have discussions with him so that moving forward it would be absorbed.
“I won’t put the blame at his doorsteps or make it political, it is my office, we were supposed to read his meter and take action by informing him that we will handle it, so, we now have put those structures in place after a very comprehensive conversation with the Chief of Staff.
“She told us her peace of mind and she told us exactly what we have to do because a lot of people would like to drop the problem at the political doorstep which is wrong,” he said.
Dubik Mahama emphasized that the issue is not political and they do not want it to sound political.
The news of Mahama paying his own electricity bills has been met with mixed reactions from the public. Some have praised him for his sense of responsibility, while others have criticized the ruling government for denying the former statesman his entitlements.
John Dramani Mahama served as president of Ghana from 2012 to 2017 and continues to be an active political figure in the country.