THE Chairman of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Mr Kwame Pianim, has confirmed that he submitted a letter of resignation to the President in the afternoon of Thursday, December 6, 2007.
Other pieces of information gathered by the Daily Graphic indicated that his resignation was discussed by the President and some government officials before the President’s departure for the EU/AU meeting in Lisbon.
This is contrary to official government reports that the President is unaware of the resignation of the PURC boss.
Mr Pianim, an ardent believer in the independence of regulatory bodies such as the PURC, resigned on the principle that public confidence in the commission, as an independent institution for regulating the utilities sector for the benefit of consumers and providers alike, was being eroded.
The Ministry of Information, on Tuesday, December 11, 2007, issued a statement on the government’s decision to widen the lifeline threshold for residential consumers of electricity from 0-50 to 0-150.
The government’s decision is seen by some as ultra vires, since one of the PURC’s mandate is to protect consumers and ensure that they get value for their money.
The PURC proposed the provision of meters in all compound households when it announced electricity tariff increases last month.
That was to ensure the right determination of electricity consumed by such households that were generally known to be in the low income bracket. With that information, the PURC maintained that targeted concessions could then be given.
The PURC also championed the programme for the distribution of about six million compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) to Ghanaians, especially those in the low-income group.
The exclusive use of CFLs is known to halve the lighting component of electricity bills, which accounts for 60 to 80 per cent of what consumers pay for electricity.
Sources close to Mr Pianim, an economist thought to be forthright, said the chairman had ardently worked to build the confidence of the public in the PURC as an independent body, unlike other independent agencies in constitutional arrangements that have the executive overseeing their performance.
The act setting up the PURC, the Public Utilities and Regulatory Act, 1997, made it independent of executive influence.
However, the control of the commission to ensure its adherence to its functions lies in a democratic dispensation where information sharing, discussions and dialogue by all ensure due process.
It is on record that Mr Pianim, at a workshop organised by the Legal Resources Commission (LRC) and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) last month, said the decision of the government about two years ago to absorb the PURC’s tariff increases showed “democratic maturity where the functions of the different entities are respected and accommodated”.
At that forum, he commended the government for not setting aside the PURC’s decision to increase tariffs but coming out to absorb part of the increases to help vulnerable Ghanaians.
Insiders believe that Mr Pianim saw that not as an interference but the government’s prerogative to cushion certain sections of the public, based on information known exclusively to itself and that was why he did not resign then.
However, the current directive of the government seemed to be a blow below the belt of the PURC, some stakeholders in the electricity sector who did not want to be named pointed out.
“It paints the PURC as insensitive to the plight of vulnerable groups in the country. But that is not possible because the commission has a wide representation of people from various groups in society who bring to bear on decisions taken the situation of vulnerable groups,” they told the Daily Graphic.
They conceded that the government also might have the interest of people at heart but was not using the proper channels to do that.THE Chairman of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Mr Kwame Pianim, has confirmed that he submitted a letter of resignation to the President in the afternoon of Thursday, December 6, 2007.
Other pieces of information gathered by the Daily Graphic indicated that his resignation was discussed by the President and some government officials before the President’s departure for the EU/AU meeting in Lisbon.
This is contrary to official government reports that the President is unaware of the resignation of the PURC boss.
Mr Pianim, an ardent believer in the independence of regulatory bodies such as the PURC, resigned on the principle that public confidence in the commission, as an independent institution for regulating the utilities sector for the benefit of consumers and providers alike, was being eroded.
The Ministry of Information, on Tuesday, December 11, 2007, issued a statement on the government’s decision to widen the lifeline threshold for residential consumers of electricity from 0-50 to 0-150.
The government’s decision is seen by some as ultra vires, since one of the PURC’s mandate is to protect consumers and ensure that they get value for their money.
The PURC proposed the provision of meters in all compound households when it announced electricity tariff increases last month.
That was to ensure the right determination of electricity consumed by such households that were generally known to be in the low income bracket. With that information, the PURC maintained that targeted concessions could then be given.
The PURC also championed the programme for the distribution of about six million compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) to Ghanaians, especially those in the low-income group.
The exclusive use of CFLs is known to halve the lighting component of electricity bills, which accounts for 60 to 80 per cent of what consumers pay for electricity.
Sources close to Mr Pianim, an economist thought to be forthright, said the chairman had ardently worked to build the confidence of the public in the PURC as an independent body, unlike other independent agencies in constitutional arrangements that have the executive overseeing their performance.
The act setting up the PURC, the Public Utilities and Regulatory Act, 1997, made it independent of executive influence.
However, the control of the commission to ensure its adherence to its functions lies in a democratic dispensation where information sharing, discussions and dialogue by all ensure due process.
It is on record that Mr Pianim, at a workshop organised by the Legal Resources Commission (LRC) and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) last month, said the decision of the government about two years ago to absorb the PURC’s tariff increases showed “democratic maturity where the functions of the different entities are respected and accommodated”.
At that forum, he commended the government for not setting aside the PURC’s decision to increase tariffs but coming out to absorb part of the increases to help vulnerable Ghanaians.
Insiders believe that Mr Pianim saw that not as an interference but the government’s prerogative to cushion certain sections of the public, based on information known exclusively to itself and that was why he did not resign then.
However, the current directive of the government seemed to be a blow below the belt of the PURC, some stakeholders in the electricity sector who did not want to be named pointed out.
“It paints the PURC as insensitive to the plight of vulnerable groups in the country. But that is not possible because the commission has a wide representation of people from various groups in society who bring to bear on decisions taken the situation of vulnerable groups,” they told the Daily Graphic.
They conceded that the government also might have the interest of people at heart but was not using the proper channels to do that.
DAILY GRAPHIC, SATURDAY DECEMBER 15, 2007
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