The Ghana Water Limited (GWL) has dismissed suggestions that the company is drifting away from its primary responsibility of supplying potable water to Ghanaians, insisting that recent criticisms regarding its involvement in the sachet and bottled water business are misguided and based on a misunderstanding of how subsidiaries operate.
The response from the state water company follows comments by the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, who reportedly criticised GWL for venturing into the sachet and bottled water market in direct competition with private sector companies.
However, GWL Managing Director Adam Mutawakilu rejected the accusations and defended the company’s operations, arguing that the existence of a subsidiary involved in bottled or sachet water production does not amount to abandoning the institution’s core mandate.
Speaking to journalists on Monday, May 11, after an inspection tour, Mr. Mutawakilu challenged critics to properly understand the structure and operations of state-owned enterprises before drawing conclusions.
According to him, there is a clear distinction between the mandate of a parent company and the activities undertaken by its subsidiaries.
“Having a subsidiary doesn’t necessarily mean you are diverting from your core mandate. We must be very clear about subsidiaries and the parent company. We must be clear.”
The GWL Managing Director further used the Volta River Authority (VRA) as an example to support his argument, explaining that although VRA’s primary responsibility is power generation, it also operates through subsidiaries that perform other functions within the energy value chain.
“We know VRA produces power and that is what they are supposed to produce. But they have NEDCo as a subsidiary that distributes, bills and collects. Do we say that they have deviated from their mandate? So I think that when people want to comment, they should come and get facts and figures.”
Mr. Mutawakilu maintained that the criticism directed at Ghana Water Limited appears to overlook how many large public institutions operate through specialised subsidiaries to enhance efficiency, diversify services and improve revenue generation.
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