The Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) has announced completion of the maintenance work on the Atuabo plant effectively ending the recent load management exercise being carried out by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
A statement issued late Friday, April 7, 2023, signed by Head of Corporate Communications of GNGC, Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah Bonsu, indicated, “the entire maintenance activities ended in the late hours of Wednesday 5th April ,2023”.
“We are currently at a flow rate of 90 mmscfd,” the statement added.
The release further extended appreciation to the general public for their patience and cooperation during the period of shutdown.
The Amansie South District Chief Executive (DCE), Clement Opoku, is crying foul over allegations that he has been cut off from the national power grid over illegal connection and non-payment of bills.
In an interview with the Independent Ghana, he said the claims are inaccurate and a calculated attempt to tarnish his image.
” I’ve never said anywhere that I’ll not pay bills. ECG got furious because I said they don’t bring bills,” he said on Saturday, April 7, 2023.
Clarifying matters, he explained that the action taken against him by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), as captured in the media reports, is only a move to sabotage him for criticising the work of the company.
“On March 21, 2023, I was a panel on Angel FM’s morning show dubbed Angel in the morning. Among the topics to be discussed was the ECGs revenue mobilisation exercise. ECG was on the table; that they were disconnecting people for non-payment of bills and what have you. So when it got to my turn, as part of my submissions, I said in my opening that ECG is not a serious company.”
According to him, he questioned why the ECG had sat aloof and overlooked non-payment of bills for several months without taking any concrete steps to retrieve the debts until this exercise which commenced on March 20, 2023.
He stated that: “it appears that they [ECG] are not serious with what they are doing because, one, how can someone owe you for 6, 7, 8, 9 months and then you (ECG) still supplies the person with power. If it’s your private company that you are managing, would you have done that? Because it’s for the state so you [ECG officials] sit there unconcerned and think that people should rush to your offices and come and pay, you are enjoying monopoly.”
He cited his district Amansie South, which is a rural district, for instance, and questioned how a peasant farmer in the area who makes barely enough a day to cater for himself and his family would be able to pay off an accumulated ECG debt of about six hundred cedis at a go, which in his view, is not feasible.
“That person can’t afford to pay and when he or she is unable to pay, then you say you’re cutting off the supply of power to the person’s residence, and that’s so wrong. It’s unfair treatment to anyone,” he lamented on the show.
Additionally, he disclosed that he had not paid any electricity bill at his official residence since he assumed office as DCE because he had not been served any bill by the ECG.
“I was so emphatic that they are not serious because in my district we don’t even have an ECG office there so if you to pay your bills you’ll have to drive to the nearby district before you can be able to do so which shouldn’t be the case and I made reference to my official residence that if what I’m saying is not true, they should come to my official residence and come and check. Ever since I moved in as DCE in 2020 till March 21, 2023, I’ve never seen any bill coming from ECG and so they should sit up, up their game and work towards it.”
He said this statement, however, got to ECG Management in Accra, who got enraged by his comments and stormed his Amansie South residence “in rambo style” to disconnect power at the premises.
“Their actions show that they are just in for witch hunting [but] my point still remains that they should bring bills and we will pay. Besides, I don’t pay bills by myself, it’s the government that does so. So if we are not being served bills, how are we going to pay?” he added.
This comes in response to earlier reports that the Electricity Company of Ghana has disconnected the power supply to the official residence of the District Chief Executive of Amansie South District in the Ashanti Region.
According to a myjoyonline.com report, at least four floodlights were on when the ECG Revenue Protection taskforce visited at 3:42 PM.
Led by the Ashanti Regional Director of ECG, David Boadi Asamoah, the taskforce took away electrical cables used for the illegal service connection.
One of the largest iron and steel producers and traders in the West African region, B5 Plus Limited, has been cut off from the national grid for failing to pay the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) a balance of GH19.5 million.
ECG, which is pursuing every customer to reclaim about GH5.7 billion, was not satisfied with the company’s ability to pay off more than half of its approximately GH42 million debt.
According to the national task force of ECG, they were assured that the balance owed to the company would be settled this week.
However the steel company defaulted on its promise and when the task force arrived at the headquarters of the company in Tema, they were prevented from accessing the substation and so the disconnection was done from the source, and the feeders were taken away.
It is reported that managers of B5 Plus have threatened to connect directly to GRIDCo despite not having permission from the Ministry of Energy to do so.
“Any attempt by the company to connect directly to GRIDCo without settling its bills to ECG and getting the right authorization will have dire legal repercussions on their business,” the external communications manager of ECG, Laila Abubakari, stated.
The power distributor says it’s racing against time to settle power producers’ huge sums of arrears due to debt owed by ECG customers.
So far, numerous companies have been disconnected from the national grid, while many others have redeemed their indebtedness to avoid disconnection.
The disconnection exercise is part of a nationwide activity led by the managing director of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Samuel Dubik Mahama.
All ECG offices have been shut to allow all managers and other staff to embark on the one-month revenue mobilization, which is expected to end on April 20.
A 54-year-old man has been apprehended by the Police in Abuakwa with support from the Revenue Protection Unit of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for installing fake meters for some people in Kunsu in the Ahafo Ano South West District of the Ashanti Region.
John Fofie, has been accused of replacing people’s post-paid meters which has debt on them with fake meters in the community.
According to sources, ECG officials had installed new postpaid meters in the home of the affected people but routine checks by officers uncovered that the culprit had replaced the meters with fake ones.
This came to light when the officials on the revenue mobilization drive detected the problem in the area.
The exercise, which has helped ECG to retrieved GH¢50 million within two weeks, is expected to retrieve all the GH¢1.2billion owed the power distribution company by the customers.
The exercise, which started about two weeks ago, also uncovered other illegalities, according to officials.
After detecting the problem, victims were interrogated, leading to the arrest of John Fofie as the man installing the fake meters in the area .
Checks conducted in his room discovered seven fake postpaid meters. They have all been confiscated by ECG.
Speaking to the media in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional Director of the Revenue Protection Unit of the ECG, Ing Kofi Danso, said they are on the look-out for other culprits including the one who illegally transferred the meters.
He said the company’s surveillance over the past months has revealed that some unscrupulous people have been making frantic efforts to infiltrate the stable electricity distribution network with illegal meters.
He further explained that “such illegal meters are also fake and have been affixed with stickers to appear as though it was coming from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)”.
“We will also not rest on our oars but work hard to arrest and prosecute perpetrators or any persons with intentions to undertake such criminal activities.
“Three meter bypasses were discovered. The culprits weren’t available. The police have asked them to report themselves to the police station.”
Officials have also detected 50 fake prepaid meters at the Race Course Market in Kumasi.
The monitoring is one of many exercises the ECG is conducting in the Ashanti Region following the growing cases of illegal power use in the region.
The Tema Region of the Electricity Company of Ghana Limited (ECG) has disconnected 310 customers, mainly for non-payment of electricity consumed.
The disconnections were done as part of the company’s nationwide one month revenue mobilisation programme which began on March 20, 2023 and is expected to end on April 20, 2023.
The 310 disconnected customers were part of a total of 2,344 customers who were visited within the first two weeks of the exercise. These customers include all individuals, small, medium and large scale organisations.
Revenue mobilisation is a usual part of the ECGs operations. It is handled by a unit in the organisation known as the Revenue Protection Unit. However, for this special exercise, the organisation rallied the management team and all back end staff from the very top to the bottom, who do not usually deal with customers directly to partake in this activity.
The members of the Board of Directors also joined in this exercise.
The General Manager for ECG, Tema Region, Ing. Ankomah Emmanuel encouraged customers to “do well to pay up their bills to avoid debt and possible disconnection”.
He also added that “we entreat customers not to make any payment whatsoever to any staff of the company on the field as that is not part of this exercise.”
All customers are to make all cash payments at ECG offices and to make cheque payments at banks. Alternatively, payments can be made through the phone short code *226#.
Ing. Ankomah added that the exercise will continue, while hoping that more customers will work towards clearing up their debts owed ECG.
The External Communications Officer of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), has bemoaned what she says is the high rate of power theft in the country.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM, Leila Abubakar described the power theft situation as “abysmal, jaw-dropping and blatant.”
According to her, the scale of power theft identified so far in the company’s ongoing debt recovery exercise is huge.
“ECG has its own shortcomings here and there which we are trying to solve. Most of it are engineering problems but it looks like a large number of people intentionally steal power and it is not any reason that can’t be solved by ECG. It is just because they do not want to buy power,” she stated.
Her comments come after several illegalities were discovered by the ECG team on their revenue mobilisation drive to recover GH₵5.7 billion debt.
In the meantime, managers of the popular hotel, Hillburi, located at Aburi in the Eastern Region have been arrested for allegedly stealing electricity.
They are expected to be arraigned before court on April 1.
The company is said to have enjoyed electricity illegally until engineers of the ECG spotted the unauthorised connection during a search on the premises this week.
ECG discovered that Hilburri Hotel had dug the ground and connected wires to the grid, diverting the load from passing through any meters.
Also, three other individuals arrested for power theft in separate incidents are currently in detention at the Legon Police Station and are expected to be processed to appear before a judge later.
According to Madam Abubakar, the results of their investigation indicated that the hotel had a motive and was on a quest to steal power.
“The one that affects me the most is just how much power is being stolen. We’ve been lenient for too long, I think that it’s time that we look at these issues separate from all the other things that we go through, and start prosecuting people seriously.
“Hillburi is just one of the many hotels that we have found out to have bypassed us, and theirs was more shocking because of the intention behind it. Because for someone to be able to dig the ground, wire through and connect directly to source, it means that they were really looking at stealing power.
“When the engineers put the equipment around our meters, they realised there was no current flowing through. It means they had just bypassed and have created their own service line that they were just feeding through,” she said.
She stated that prosecution for power theft is something Ghanaians should expect to see more of, adding that if ECG can prove that you intentionally stole power, you must face the consequences.
Some staff of the company have recently come under attack while executing the company’s ongoing revenue mobilisation programme to recover some GH¢5.7 billion owed by the consuming public.
ECG cited the detention of its personnel by the Ghana Post Company over a GH¢89,000 debt to buttress its caution.
Some personnel of the Company were detained on March 28 by Ghana Post Company when they attempted to disconnect power over the GH¢89,000 debt.
In a statement the ECG therefore, cautioned the general public against illegal connections and attacks on its personnel in the line of their duty which it said is a crime under Ll 2413.
It said it will not countenance any attacks and hesitate to disconnect any customer that owes the Company or threatens its staff.
“The Company hereby gives public notice that any customer/consumer, be they an Individual or company who refuses to allow the Company’s personnel to perform their functions as permitted by Ll 2413, will be disconnected. Further, where an assault on our staff is committed, the consumer will continue to be disconnected until such period of time that the customer has confirmed intention in writing to ensure the safety of ECG’s personnel who have rightfully entered the premises to discharge their duties and pledge not to interfere with the company’s personnel in this regard.
“The Company further reserves its right to initiate either civil or criminal action or both against the consumer and or its officers.”
A nationwide load-shedding schedule has been announced by theElectricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in response to a decrease in power generation imposed on by the shutdown of the Atuabo gas processing plant.
The load-shedding which kicked off on Thursday, March 30, will last till Friday, April 7, 2023, between 6.00pm and 11.00pm.
The ECG in a statement explained that this is due to “maintenance works being carried out by the Ghana National Gas Company(GNGC) at Atuabo, [hence] there is a power generation shortfall. In this regard, please find below a load management schedule from Thursday, 30th March to Friday 7th April 2023, between 6.00pm and 11.00pm”.
Volta, Ashanti, Western, Eastern, Central, Greater Accra and Tema will all be affected.
“We call on our customers to bear the inconvenience with us while the Ghana Gas Processing Plant undertakes this all-important maintenance activity,” the ECG appealed in its statement.
Some of the affected places in group A include: South Odorkor, Baah Yard, Odorgonno, Awoshie Massalatsi, Been-To, Parts of Trasacco, Estates, Parts of Airport Residential Area, GHIPSS, ValCo Trust, Enterprise Market, Trust Bank, Shippers Council, ABSA Bank, Ecobank, Adabraka Free Town, Government Boys, GNTC Bottling, Nayak, Ga East Hospital, Dome New Market, Agingo, Taifa, Nkatie Burger, Mr. Adjei, Demod.
Others are Hotel Adodo, CMB Flats, Coffee Shop, Parts of Labadi, Parts of Labone, Olebu, New Ayawaso, Amamole, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Ayigbe Town, Parts of Lartebiokorshie, Alogboshie, Neoplan, Best Point, Kaneshie Flats, St. Theresa, Cocoa Clinic, Accra Sound, Kaneshie Sports Complex, Parts of Kokomlemle, Mallam Atta Market.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is expected to release a schedule to guide citizens in parts of the country for a 14-day power cut period.
There will be erratic power supply as a result of a shutdown of the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant in the Western Region.
The Ghana Gas Company Limited commenced a maintenance programme at the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant on March 25, 2023, according to a press statement released by the Ministry of Energy.
According to the statement dated March 29, “the shutdown will affect gas supply to some power plants and will ultimately result in interruption of power supply to some consumers”, thus warranting a schedule from the ECG.
On the matter, Director of communications with Ghana Gas, Ernest Owusu Bempah, stated that “the engineers thought it wise that we need to do some major maintenance hence the shutdown.”
As the Ghana Gas Company Limited works to address the situation at the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant, the Energy Ministry has pledged to procure additional gas, which will include Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) and Light Crude Oil (LCO) “to complement available domestic gas for power generation.”
According to the Ministry, it is working assiduously with all stakeholders “to ensure that any adverse effects of this exercise are mitigated.”
Twenty counts of money laundering and stealing prepaid credits worth more than GH2.1 million have been brought against three workers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and seven other people.
The workers are Anthony D. K. Quaye, a technician at the ECG district office in Kasoa, Grace Gardiner, the chief supervising cashier at the ICT Department at the Head Office, and Ali Nansii Shaibu, a computer programmer.
The remaining defendants include Ibrahim Baba Adamu, a technician at the Ghana Electrometer Company, as well as Muntari Adamu, Gariba Awudu Misbaw, Kwasi Appiah Donkor, Eric Yaw Kyei, and Augustina Laniyan, all of whom were independent contractors and sold the general public ECG pre-paid power credits.
ECG, in 2003, entered into a partnership agreement with various companies including Electrometer to provide pre-paid power distribution to customers across the country.
Private dealers were tasked to engage in the sale of the credits as well. Prosecutors say the first accused person (Ali Nansii Shaibu) travelled to Hohoe in 2016 to resolve a pre-paid connectivity challenge for the 7th accused person (Gariba Awudu Misbaw).
The two agreed that the software will be manipulated to enable pre-paid credits to be sent to Gariba without the knowledge of the Hohoe District Office of the ECG. The 7th accused person will then delete the transaction and share the proceeds among themselves.
Credits worth ¢199,351.60 transferred and sold under this scheme
Mr. Shaibu equally entered into this deal with other accused persons resulting in the theft of ¢1,203,249.26 worth of credits. Another set of transactions with other accused persons resulted in various amounts being stolen. Prosecutors say investigations put the total value of stolen credits under this scheme at 2,143,270.15.
The accused persons are said to have admitted to the offence and refunded an amount of 282,600.00 cedis. They all however pleaded not guilty when the charges were read against them in court. The hearing of the case will resume on April 27, 2023.
Electrochem Ghana Limited, a salt mining company owned by Dr Daniel McKorley, has been cut off from the national power grid.
This was done by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)’s task force in the Tema Region.
According to the ECG, the metres installed in at the company’s premises have been tampered with.
This was disclosed by the External Communications Manager of ECG, Laila Abubakari.
“It has come to light that ECG meter readers have been denied entry to gain access to the meter installed in their premises.”
The ECG task force subsequently disconnected the company after engaging with the security personnel of the company.
The team, prior to visiting the Electrochem company, disconnected power to three other privately owned businesses including a banana farm, Moonlight Fresco Limited, and a fish farm Frosell all in the Ada district.
The other was the Kemmat Hotel, which owes over GHS 200,000 on its six meters.
This follows the power company’s massive disconnection operation on Monday, March 20, in an effort to collect a debt of GHS 5.7 billion.
ECG asked its customers to pay up or be disconnected from the grid.
The company says it risks shutting down if they are unable to clear an outstanding $1 billion owed to some Independent Power Producers (IPP) hence the revenue mobilisation drive.
As a result, the Managing Director of ECG, Mr Samuel Dubik Mr Mahama has said a halt in the exercise could be dire for the company.
“How do we pay the Independent Power Producers? How do we pay GRIDCo? How do we pay VRA? It is a shared responsibility.
“Please let’s just do the right thing, because I don’t even have the moral right after sending somebody out of the office to pick up the phone and call him and say ‘hello, can you cut X, Y and Z slack? No’ then what is the moral of the exercise?”’ he questioned.
Two significant hospitals in Ho have received a disconnection notice from theElectricity Company of Ghana (ECG) due to unpaid bills.
Ho Teaching and Ho Municipal Hospitals have been given six working days to pay their debts or risk losing access to the national power grid on April 3, 2023.
According to the ECG, the hospitals owe a total of GH¢1,875,300.18 in accruals dating from 2021 to the present, with Ho Teaching Hospital owing GH¢1,459,926.23 and Ho Municipal Hospital owing GH¢415,373.95.
According to PURC RegulationsLI 2413,37, sub-regulation (2), the ECG served written notices of disconnection to the hospitals at least three working days before disconnecting the service.
To avoid disconnection, the disconnection notice urges hospitals to settle their arrears within six working days.
Ing. Michael Buabin, Acting General Manager of ECG in the Volta Region, stated that “disconnection is usually a last resort in order to prevent customers from accruing more debt and to enable the company to collect more revenue to keep the electricity supply chain running.”
He also stated that ECG “does not take pleasure in disconnecting customers” and urged all customers to make paying their electricity bills a top priority. These are sensitive facilities that require power to function, and ECG claims it has engaged with them on several occasions to allow them to settle their arrears before issuing the disconnection notice.
Ing. Buabeng added that “ECG is hoping for a positive response from the hospitals to prevent any form of disconnection. Failure to meet ECG’s target could affect the electricity supply chain and the economy through the unavailability of power”.
ECG has launched a one-month nationwide campaign to recover approximately 5.7 billion Cedis from its debtors, with approximately 220 million Cedis in the Volta Region.
The national revenue mobilization taskforce of the Electricity Company of Ghana(ECG) has cut off power to three blocks at the police barracks at Osu in Accra due to an unauthorized connection (power was connected without a meter).
The task force discovered the illegality on Tuesday on its usual rounds to recover monies owed by customers.
The task force, aside from chasing people who owe ECG debts, uses the opportunity to check for illegal connections.
“Since it’s an illegal connection, we have the first right to disconnect before we deal with issues.” The manager in charge of external communications, Laila Abubakari told Citi News.
The disconnection is part of a national exercise to collect monies owed to ECG by customers and to also ascertain the condition of all meters.
“The Ghana police would have to come to ECG where a bill will be generated for them covering a period of 12 months,” she added.
She said power will be restored when they pay the surcharged amount.
“The administration block also owes, but due to security implications, we’ve spared that facility while we discuss further the amount involved. We consider the police accommodation facilities (blocks) a general facility hence the disconnection”.
Meanwhile, the ECG Revenue Mobilization Taskforce was held hostage for about 30 minutes after they disconnected the Ghana Post Company over GH¢89,000 debt.
The task force was at the premises to conduct its ongoing revenue mobilization exercise on Tuesday when the staff prevented the task force from leaving the Accra main office.
The disconnection exercise is in its second week of the month-long national exercise aimed at retrieving GH¢5.7 billion on their books.
ECG has already taken on a number of institutions including theKeta Municipal Health Directorate, Ho Airport Cape Coast stadium among others.
The exercise also forced both government and private institutions to cough up some funds to settle outstanding debt to avoid disconnection.
Parliament, for instance, settled eight million cedis out of the 13 million it owes the power distributor.
The University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) has also paid one million cedis out of 1.4 million cedis owed.
Both institutions were not disconnected from the national grid following the show of commitment to settle their debts.
The Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Masubir Mahama, has entreated users of post-paid meters to visit their offices across the country to pay their debt without waiting on the company to issue bills on power consumed.
Ghanaian media personality, Nana Aba Anamoah, has alleged that foreign companies in Ghana owe an amount of GHS 2.75 billion to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
This is said to be half of GHS 5.5 billion the ECG hopes to collect from institutions that are indebted to the company.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, March 23, 2023, Nana Aba Anamoah wrote “ECG is owed over 5.5 billion Cedis. Half of that amount is owed by foreign companies.”
“B5 Plus Ltd for instance owed 42 million Cedis. When ECG officials arrived there yesterday, they paid 16 million and made a commitment to settle 20 million Cedis by end of the week.
“Fabri Metal Company Limited was disconnected yesterday. They owe ECG GHS 28 million.”
According to her, Ferro Fabrik Limited which was disconnected from the national grid owe ECG and amount of GHS 18 million.
The Electricity Company of Ghana on Monday, March 20, 2023, embarked on a national revenue mobilisation exercise.
Since Monday, ECG has disconnected the Ho Airport in the Volta Region for owing the power distribution company GH¢63,000.
The regional office of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Ho Technical University and the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) Training Academy in Kpetoe were disconnected for similarly owing.
According to the company, it will leave no stone unturned in ensuring all debts owed are paid.
The company is appealing to all customers to make payment before the disconnection team visits their premises. Customers can make payments at any bank or through mobile money. Customers can also pay by dialling *226# or by downloading the ECG PowerApp”.
The managing director of theElectricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Mahama, has revealed that his organization intends to meter every power distribution transformer by the end of 2023 in a bid to combat power theft.
To help with metering and on-time completion, the MD stated that the contract had already been awarded.
Speaking in an interview on the Point of View on Citi TV, Mr. Mahama bemoaned the volumes of power lost to theft annually and said some residents actually factor power theft into their building plan and often get away with that, but that is soon coming to an end.
“It has come to our attention that some people even before building their houses, talk about ‘by-pass’ where they have one part of their electricity consumption pass through their meter and the other half goes through the main lines and I can assure you that we will find all those people and ensure that they correct it before the end of the year.
“We are going to meter every single distribution transformer and that will allow us to know the number of rooms connected to those transformers and the volumes of power supplied and when your meter is telling us otherwise, we will visit the area and calculate the average for all occupants to pay.”
The Electricity Company of Ghana began a massive disconnection exercise on March 20 in its bid to recover debts owed it.
Mr. Mahama indicated that the company is owed over GH¢5 billion from the month of September 2022 to February 2023. Most of its debtors are the variousMMDAs.
Samuel Masubir Mahama, the managing director of theElectricity Company of Ghana(ECG), is advising owners of post-paid meters to pay their bills in person rather than waiting for the company to send out bills for the electricity used.
Speaking on Eyewitness News withUmaru Sanda Amadu, Mr. Mahama said, “Why would you owe so much money, you owe that kind of money and don’t want to pay on account?”
“In the case of residential customers, they say you haven’t sent us bills in a very long time. But you have received a bill before, so it’s in your interest to keep paying what you see on your last bill until your meter is read, and the reconciliation is done, then you can start shifting to your new bill amount. But most people just sit down and they don’t pay anything. It’s also not fair to the pre-paid customer”.
He further urged post-paid meter users to average their own rate by falling on previous bills to pay for the power they consume.
“Pay through the meter account associated with your name. You were using the power already so pay even if you don’t see bills. Are you saying without the meter being read we shouldn’t bill you and allow you to use it for free? We are saying you can average your own bill, you are in your own home, and you know how much you consume in a week or a month. Be a responsible citizen and pay on account, after proper reconciliation what is due you will be given to you,” the ECG MD reiterated.
He emphasised, “but to say that you are not going to pay anything at all, and then you will enjoy the service, you are not being fair to a pre-paid customer who has to pre-pay what he/she is going to consume”.
As part of its national revenue mobilization, the National Taskforce of the ECG since Monday, March 20, has been disconnecting power to some companies including Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), KFC, Ho Airport.
Parliament, Fabrimetal Company, the largest steel manufacturing company in West Africa, B5 Plus Company Limited in Tema and others which owe the ECG have settled some of their debts to avoid being discounted.
The company disconnected KFC for owing GH¢68,000, Ho Airport for owing GH¢63,000, GRA Office for owing GH¢55,000, CEPS training academy for owing GH¢80,000 and Ho Technical University for owing GH¢402,000.
However, Ho technical university paid GH¢200,000 after crunch talks with the ECG and has been told to settle the arrears by end of March 2023.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has cut the power supply to the Cape Coast Sports Stadium over legacy debts of GHS 513,000.
The move forms part of the company’s nationwide action to reduce debts owed to ensure it stays in business.
Since Monday, March 20, it had embarked on an aggressive revenue mobilisation drive as part of efforts to reduce its debt situation, which was affecting operations.
This is targeted at every customer owing the ECG and not only state-owned enterprises.
In an interview on Tuesday, Alexander Tieku, the Regional Sports Director, said the disconnection would greatly affect its activities as a monumental state asset.
He explained that the debt inherited many years ago was being settled on arranged negotiations with the ECG when the facility was first disconnected sometime last year, and some payments were made.
Management had also engaged officials of the ECG to install pre-paid meters to direct a chunk of the bills to the various business units at the stadium, which had been carried out with 20 more to be done for smooth operations.
Businesses at the stadium include hostels, restaurants, offices, clinics, and gyms, which were connected to only one post-paid meter, leading to the compilation of huge debts.
Mr Tieku described the situation as ‘unfortunate’ and ‘surprising’ due to the agreement reached by both parties.
So far, the Cape Coast new stadium is the only state-owned organisation affected by the disconnection exercise in the region.
Managing Director of the Electricity Company Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Mahama, has revealed that some individuals in the political space and friends have called to register their displeasure with the ongoing mass disconnection by the company.
Barely 48 hours after the ECG began the exercise, Mr Samuel Dubik Mahama said he had received numerous calls for him to halt the initiative.
When asked if the calls came in from politicians, power brokers and friends by JoyNews’ Evans Mensah, he said “It cuts across. (they say) can you hold off? No, hold off as to what?”
“Please let’s just do the right thing because I don’t even have the moral right after sending somebody out of the office to pick up the phone and call him and say ‘hello, can you cut X, Y and Z slack? No’ then what is the moral of the exercise?” the ECG boss added.
According to Mr Mahama, the ongoing revenue mobilisation exercise being carried out by his out is not politically motivated.
Samuel Dubik Mahama says concerns that the exercise is being targeted at some party’s political base are unfounded and should be treated with the utmost contempt.
He stressed that he has no intention to politicise his office or mandate.
“I don’t see myself as doing politics, I see myself now as a technocrat. The biggest mistake we could ever do is to politicise the work done by this office.
“So for me, your electricity bill doesn’t have a party colour…your electricity bill is red, gold, and green with a black star in the middle, that’s your electricity bill. So believe me, as I said, the status quo balances straight out,” he said.
B5 Plus Company Limited in Tema, the largest producer of steel in West Africa, was able to continue operating after facility managers paid GH20 million to settle a portion of their GH42 million debt to the Electricity Company of Ghana.
The ECG revenue mobilisation task force, which is headed by Laila Abubakari, Manager of External Communications, rejected a previous proposal by B5 Plus managers to pay the GHc20 million in installments.
Laila Abubakari claims that despite blaming the economy and the exchange rate for their inability to pay their bills, ECG is also having the same problems. As a result, the company decided to start a one-month revenue mobilisation exercise in an effort to pay off some of its debts.
The Electricity Company of Ghana has disconnected several customers as it embarked on a nationwide revenue mobilisation exercise which began on Monday, March 20, 2023.
In the Volta and Oti Regions, ECG officials visited customers like Volta Serene, Abutia Stone Quarry, UHAS, and HTU who owed electricity bills.
The company disconnected KFC for owing GH¢68,000, Ho Airport for owing GH¢63,000, GRA Office for owing GH¢55,000, CEPS training academy for owing GH¢80,000 and Ho Technical University for owing GH¢402,000.
However, Ho technical university paid GH¢200,000 after crunch talks with the ECG and has been told to settle the arrears by end of March 2023.
The exercise also saw some companies make payments like the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) which paid GH¢1 million out of GH¢1.4million.
The company is set to visit Ho teaching hospital, and theNational Communications Authority among others to retrieve about GH¢5 million within the Ho Municipality.
The ongoing revenue mobilization effort being carried out by theElectricity Company of Ghana (ECG), according to the ECG’s managing director, Samuel Dubik Mahama is not driven by politics.
According to Samuel Dubik Mahama, suspicions that the exercise is being directed at a certain party’s political base are baseless and should be viewed disregarded.
He explained that the mass disconnection exercise has become necessary in order to mobilise much-needed revenue for the ECG to pay Independent Power Producers arrears amounting to an excess of $1 billion.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, he stressed that he has no intention to politicize his office or mandate.
“I don’t see myself as doing politics, I see myself now as a technocrat. The biggest mistake we could ever do is to politicise the work done by this office.
“So for me, your electricity bill doesn’t have a party colour…your electricity bill is red, gold, and green with a black star in the middle, that’s your electricity bill. So believe me, as I said, the status quo balances straight out,” he said.
Meanwhile, he has apologised to people who feel insulted or embarrassed as a result of the ECG’s disconnection exercise.
According to him, while the turn of events is unfortunate, it is important to embark on this exercise to ensure that consumers are made aware of the need to pay their bills on time.
“I know a few people who feel slighted, it’s not our intention to disrespect anybody or embarrass anybody I just believe we have a mandate and we should carry it out,” he said.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) should be partially be blamed for the debt owed by institutions, according toDr. Kwabena Donkor, a former minister of power and current member of parliament for Pru East.
He accused the state power distributor of previously succumbing to pressures from government institutions not to act to retrieve its debt.
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Tuesday, March 21, Dr Donkor said regarding the cause of the debt of the ECG that “It is an attitudinal problem. A lot of government institutions think there is one central government and that there can be debt settlement… there used to be an agency settlement arrangement but that is no more.
“ECG is partly to blame, previously it has succumbed to all sorts of pressures from government institutions. When I was the Minister of Power we put the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance on prepaid, once you put them on prepaid they can’t accumulate debt unless there is a fault, that is the challenge.”
The ECG has been embarking on a debt recovery exercise since Monday, March 20.
The company said that it has introduced a digitalized system to ensure the amount of money received from the debt recovery exercise is monitored directly by the Managing Director of the company.
The task force visited institutions such as Parliament, the Ghana Arprort Company Limited (GACL) and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) as part of the debt recovery.
Speaking to journalists after the exercise on Monday, March 20, the External Communications Manager of ECG, Laila Abubakar said “The national task force is the one that is in charge of the state-owned enterprises, the ministries, departments and agencies and so we have been going with them, we visited Parliament House, they were owing about a GHS13million they have committed to paying GHS8.5million, we saw evidence of that.
“We went to the Ghana Airpot Company, they owed arrears of GHS28million of which they made GHS10 million payment instantly just when we got there so we have given them 48 hours to make the full payment.”
She added “Now, we are here at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, they also owe in arrears of about GHS6 million but they have explained to us that because of the way they run their operations they wouldn’t be able to cough out the money for us instantly, they have had some discussions with the Minister of Information and the National Media Commission together with the Ministry of Energy and there was some sort of agreement last years. However, ECG’s point is that there has not been any movement on the debt that is remaining.
“They have explained to us they have a system and they are going to get some money and pay because they have to find innovative ways of coming up with the money and so we have been giving permission to leave them for now for 48 hours.”
The ECG has also been disconnecting homes and industries over debts.
Laila Abubakar said “In Tema, we have received photos of disconnections happening in residences, we have received photos of them in some of the industries in Tema and they are being disconnected.
“I am hoping that by the end of the day, we should be able to see a lot of money coming in into our accounts.
“Our system has been digitized in such a way that by the end of the day the Managing Director will be able to see how much we have recouped from this exercise and so we will report in a timely basis how much we are making on a weekly basis.”
It was a beholding sight at the various Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) offices across the as scores of customers owing the company trooped in to settle their debts to forestall any implications of sanctions.
Residents of La in Accra, on Monday, March 20, 2023, boycotted all activities and stormed the Company’s offices to pay their outstanding bills.
This is after officials of ECG, as part of a month-long revenue generation exercise, descended on the community to disconnect customers owing it.
The Company’s officials from the Makola District Team, Accra East Region, told the Ghana News Agency that some residents owed bills for months and years, with others engaged in “bypasses” – their consumptions not passing through meters.
For instance, a two-storey building, which had a pharmacy at the ground floor and sports bar at the first and floors in the Community had two of its three prepaid meters tampered with.
The occupants of the edifice were given a summon letter.
A bartender too had her meter disconnected for refusing to pay her debt of GHS3,700.
After acquiring the meter, she never paid a bill because there were no bills coming from ECG since 2021.
Madam Mary Eshun Oppong, Communications Officer, Accra East ECG, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said: “Most people don’t pay their bills with the excuse of not receiving bills. The least amount we have seen them owe is around GHS1,500 and the highest is GHS5,000,” she said.
Madam Eshun Oppong said the disconnection had yielded results, with the affected individuals and households making prompt payments.
The Ghana News Agency observed that some residents closed their shops until the ECG Officials left.
The team will continue its work in the community for some days before moving to another area.
The Ho Airport, the Ho regional office of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Ho Technical University, KFC , among other notable institutions have been removed from the national debt over outstanding debts.
The aforementioned institutions are said to owe the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) over GH¢605,000.
The disconnection was conducted on the first day of the company’s nationwide revenue mobilization exercise in the eleven operational districts of ECG in the Volta and Oti Regions.
“The company has disconnected KFC for owing GH¢68,000, Ho Airport for owing GH¢63,000, GRA Office for owing GH¢55,000, CEPS training academy for owing GH¢80,000, and Ho Technical University for owing GH¢402,000.
However, Ho Technical University paid GH¢200,000 after crunch talks with the ECG and have been told to settle the arrears by the end of March”, stated in a press release signed by the Volta Regional Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Obeng Antwi.
The University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) made an upfront payment of GH¢1 million out of GH¢1.400,000 and was given a week’s deadline to pay the remaining GH¢400,000
ECG hopes to retrieve about GH¢292 million in the Volta and Oti Regions, within the one-month revenue mobilization exercise, which will see it visit debtors such as the Ho Teaching Hospital, and the National Communications Authority among other state agencies and private institutions.
“We want customers to prioritize the payment of bills and this will enable us to collect more revenue to keep the power sector operating.
The company is appealing to all customers to make payment before the disconnection team visits their premises. Customers can make payments at any bank or through mobile money. Customers can also pay by dialing *226# or by downloading the ECG PowerApp”.
In order to avoid being disconnected, Parliament has paid theElectricity Company of Ghana(ECG) about GH8 million of the GH13 million debt it owe.
The payment comes after revenue mobilization task force from ECG visited Ghana’s legislative house with the intention of disconnecting it from the national grid.
The exercise is part of the power distributor’s effort to recover over GH¢5 billion of debt accrued by private and state institutions for non-payment since August last year.
The exercise began today, March 20, 2023, after ECG announced the closure of its main offices except for customer support departments in order to embark on a one-month-long exercise.
The taskforce is currently heading to another institution.
Failure of Parliament to settle an outstanding debt of GHS13 million debt it owes the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) may lead to the disconnection of the House from the National Grid.
In view of this, Parliament is currently in discussion with officials from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) over the debt.
The outcome of this discussion will determine whether the House stays connected to the national grid or is plunged into darkness.
A disconnection team is at the premises as the negotiations proceed.
This forms part of the Company’s bid to retrieve a total of about GH¢5.7 billion in unpaid bills across the country.
Parliament is advancing talks to pay GH¢1 million upfront out of its GH¢13 million debt in order to keep the lights on for now.
“It looks like Parliament is offering some GH¢1 million upfront to prevent the disconnection but the ECG will have none of that,” JoyNews’ James Avedzi said on the Midday News.
The ECG on March 14, disconnected the power supply to the Energy Ministry which plunged the entire Ministry into darkness for almost half a day.
According to the sources, power was, however, restored to the Ministry after it paid its debt bill in full.
The power distributor will from Monday, March 20, embark on a massive disconnection exercise in a bid to mobilise revenue.
The exercise is using almost all ECG staff from top management to junior officers to retrieve all the monies owed to them.
The Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik Mahama, said the company is owed over GH¢5 billion from the month of September 2022 to February 2023.
He added that the agencies that would refuse to settle their bill immediately will face the same consequence as the Energy Ministry.
The Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has charged the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to disconnect power of every public institution in the country including that of the Ministry of Energy if they default in the payments of their electricity bills, Purefmonline.com reports.
Speaking on Kumasi-based Pure FM in an exclusive interview with Kwame Adinkrah on March 20, 2023, the Energy Minister who doubles as MP for Manhyia South remarked that in principle, charity begins at home so if the Energy Ministry defaults in the payments of their bills, the ECG should without any form of hesitation disconnect their power.
However, he explained that the reports on social media indicating his outfit suffering a disconnection exercise from its agency, ECG, over alleged unpaid electricity bills were untrue.
Napo stated in his explanation that his Ministry runs on prepaid meters so it would be impossible for the ECG to disconnect them from the grid.
“We only had prepaid challenges of which on the contrary the ECG intervened to restore power for us.
The ECG should disconnect the Energy Ministry’s power and that of any public institution should they at any point default in making payments for their utility bills.
Kwame, the Ministry of Energy is no exemption from this principle should it come to that.
The ECG must not relent in its effort to recover monies owed them either by private institutions, individuals or state agencies,” Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh charged.
Background
It was reported that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) on Tuesday, March 14, disconnected power supply to the Energy Ministry which plunged the entire Ministry into darkness for almost half a day.
The Ministry of Energy has refuted claims that it had its power cut off due to unpaid electrical bills.
Speaking on the matter, Communications Specialist at the Ministry, Kofi Abrefa Afena “the Ministry only had prepaid payment challenges and therefore called the ECG to intervene”.
He added that “The Ministry of Energy as the supervising agency of the ECG will support ECG in recovering all its money accruing from energy sold to consumers. The Ministry will lead by example in paying for its energy consumed”.
In order for ECG and NEDCo to be able to offer consumers necessary services, the Ministry, according to Mr. Afena, urges everyone to pay for the energy they use.
Meanwhile, the Electricity Company of Ghana says it will from today, Monday, March 20, embark on a massive disconnection exercise in a bid to mobilise revenue.
The exercise is using almost all ECG staff, from top management to junior officers to retrieve all the monies owed it.
According to the Managing Director, Mr Samuel Dubik Mahama Esq., the company is owed over GH¢5 billion from the month of September 2022 to February 2023. Most of this debt resides with the SOEs and MDAs.
Last Tuesday, the Electricity Company of Ghana paid a visit to the Ministry of Energy, cutting off electricity to the entire building for over half a day.
Power was only restored after the mother ministry of the Electricity Company of Ghana(ECG) paid their outstanding payment in full.
This will be the fate of many other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) who owe ECG huge amounts of money, forcing the power retailer to embark on a massive revenue mobilization exercise beginning on Monday, March 20, 2023, to Thursday, April 20, 2023.
The exercise is using almost all ECG staff from top management to junior officers to retrieve all the monies owed them.
According to the Managing Director, Mr Samuel Dubik Mahama Esq, the company is owed over GHS 5 billion from the month of September 2022 to February 2023.
Most of this debt resides with the SOEs and MDAs.
The strategy, therefore, is to take these agencies by storm, from March 20, 2023, and those who refuse to settle their bill immediately will be meted the same punishment as the Ministry of Energy.
Ahead of this exercise, Mr Dubik Mahama toured all the operational regions of ECG to sensitize the staff on how to go about the mobilization of the revenue, to respect the customer at all times.
He also reminded the staff that ECG is a business and not a charity and everyone must start to behave as such.
It is expected that at the end of the exercise, 100% of the debt would be recovered.
TheElectricity Company of Ghana(ECG) has urged the public and law enforcement organizations to help it apprehend individuals and organizations who sell fake meters to households.
According to the Company, it was losing millions of Ghana Cedis in revenue due to the activities of those syndicates.
Dr Mark Owusu Ansah, the Revenue Protection Manager of the Accra West ECG, made the appeal when the Company embarked on an exercise to remove and replace fake meters at Adeiso, in the Upper West Akim District of the Eastern Region, on Friday.
The exercise, which started on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, has so far witnessed the removal of over 400 fake meters at Adeiso only, replacing them with original ones.
It formed part of a the “No Fake Meter” campaign aimed at ridding the system of all fake meters and regularising such meter users to maximise revenue.
Dr Ansah noted that the three days’ exercise, so far, had led to the removal of over 400 of such fake meters, amounting to some 1.2 gigawatt of power.
He said, monetary-wise, over Gh¢1 million of revenue had been lost as a result of the use of the fake meters over the past one to three years.
“From 28th February to March 2, 2023, we’ve recovered 400 of them and this 400, when you quantify the loses they’ve created, within these three days, we’ve been able to recover 1.2 gigawatts,” he said.
The Revenue Protect Manger added that “when you compare this 1.2gigawatts to cash term, it is Gh¢1 million plus within this three days so if we should recover 1000s of them, then you understand the harm they are causing,” he added.
In 2021, the Accra West Region alone lost close to GH¢4 million in nine months through illegal connection activities.
Illegal connection activities robbed the Company of some 3.9 million kilowatts per hour (3.9mkWh) of power between the months of January and September 2021, resulting in a revenue loss of GH¢3.9 million to the Company.
He said the Company was, therefore, collaborating with State security agencies, including the Police and the National Investigation Bureau (NIB) to arrest the syndicates and solicited support from the public.
“Those who are selling these meters, whoever knows where they are should come to us privately. We will protect your identity, help us to get them so that we put a stop to it. If anybody also think by his own can organise the Police to arrest them should arrest them, let ECG know and we will come for them,” he encouraged.
Dr Ansah also indicated that the Company would continue with the exercise until it got rid of all such fake meters.
He urged persons who were using such meters to come forward and help the Company replaced the meters at no cost.
“We’ll remove and replace it with a genuine meter and recover whatever the customer has used to defray some of our losses but fortunately, ECG, being a good services Company, it has been with people for three years, two years, etc, we are here to correct. So, we’ll replace the meter and recover for only one year because some of them were innocent,” said Dr Ansah.
“We have some of them that deliberately went for the meters. Some too were swindled, they were duped, they had no idea. Some too took it from SHEP, SHEP is different. This one, it’s not the mode of supply that is worrying us but because it cannot capture any unit,” he added.
The ECG, in October last year, commenced an exercise in some communities in the Eastern Region to rid the system of fake meters where the situation was prevalent.
The communities are Daaman, Sakyikrom, Amoakrom, Duadekye, Ntoaso, Kofisah and Newton, are Akwamu, Oparekrom, Nkyenen-kyene, Amanfrom and Adeiso, all in the Nsawam district.
The exercise was carried out by the Accra West ECG in collaboration with the ECG Nsawam District Office.
A shopkeeper, 24, has been detained by the police after she locked a member of the Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) monitoring team in her store.
The staff were conducting a monitoring exercise to evaluate the condition of the local pre-paid meters.
The shop, which had previously lost power due to engaging in a meter by-pass, was brought to the team’s notice because it had been reconnected without the use of ECG.
The shop owner, Enoch Kwafo, allegedly ordered [Veronica Ansah] his attendant to lock the ECG staff up while they called a mob to attack him.
The locked-up staff was, however, rescued by colleagues who had visited nearby premises. The case was reported to the police and the attendant was arrested.
Dr Mark Owusu Ansah, Accra West Regional Revenue Protection Manager, ECG, said: “The customer had reconnected power to his shop on three previous occasions despite a bill slapped on him for engaging in illegal connection.”
In an interview, he said the shop owed Gh¢10,517.53.
“The customer has not approached us to clear this debt, and keeps reconnecting himself anytime we disconnect him,” Dr Owusu Ansah said.
The Accra West General Manager, ECG, Ebenezer Ghunney expressed concerns over incidents of threats and attacks on staff of the Company while they carried out their legitimate duties.
“We are liaising with the security agencies to ensure that our staff work in the best congenial and peaceful atmosphere always,” he said.
He said the Company would take action against anyone who impeded the work of its field staff.
Last year, the Accra West Region recovered GH¢10,363,755 from 1,900 customers who were apprehended for engaging in various forms of illegal connections.
These customers were surcharged for the power they used and some were also tried in court for stealing power.
The Accra West Region has eight operational districts.
They are Ablekuma, Achimota, Amasaman, Bortianor, Dansoman, Kaneshie, Korlebu and Nsawam.
As the municipality gets ready to hold the 66th Ghana Independence Day parade, the Ho Municipal Assembly and theElectricity Company of Ghana(ECG) have joined forces to improve the street lighting system in the area.
The two organizations have strengthened their collaboration to ensure that the streets of Ho are properly lit.
As a result, over two thousand street lights have been replaced within the Municipality and extended to adjoining roads leading to the Ho township.
A walk within the Ho Municipality especially in the evening now shows well lit streets which hitherto was not the situation.
The strengthening of the collaborative efforts between the Electricity Company of Ghana and theHo Municipal Assemblyis aimed at providing residents and visitors with a well-lit and safer environment to celebrate the independence day parade which will be held within the Ho Municipality of the region. Its also seeks to enhance the beauty of the city and make it more attractive to tourists, thereby boosting the local economy.
GBCNEWS learnt that ECG has committed to providing supervisory works on replacing, installing and helping to repair street lights in key areas within the municipality. Over two thousand street lights have therefore been replaced within the Municipality while additional street lights have also been extended to adjoining roads leading to the Municipality.
A walk within the Municipality especially in the evening now shows well-lit streets which hitherto was not the case. The situation has also resulted in improved security within the municipality and an improvement in night life in Ho.
In an interview with the Volta Regional Engineer for the ECG, Engineer Michael Buabin, said adequate measures have been put in place to ensure that the Municipality enjoys stable power in the run-up to the event on March 6, 2023.
“We have spoken to our colleagues the GRIDCO people that before, during and after this all important celebrations they should make sure that there is no outage from their side” he noted.
“This communication has gotten to our head office and the head office of GRIDCO. Over 2000 street lights have been replaced within the Municipality and even extended to adjoining roads leading to the ho township and it’s environs” he added.
A co-chairman of the Grounds and Event Committee of the Local Organizing Committee who is also the Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Divine Richard Komla Bosson, in an interview with GBCNEWS expressed his excitement at the partnership and emphasized the importance of proper lighting in creating a safe and attractive environment for residents and visitors.
“I have entered into an MOU with ECG that operation lets lighten all the street lights in town. All these things will add up to the beauty and the development that we are yearning for” he opined.
It is believed that the collaboration between the Ho Municipal Assembly and ECG is a promising step towards a brighter and safer future for the residents of Ho.
The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCO) has issued a warning that if its cash flow issues are not immediately resolved, a steady supply of electricity may be compromised.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) owe them GHC2.7 billion, according to the company’s managing director Ebenezer Kofi Essienyi, who made the announcement on Monday during a press briefing.
GRIDCo claims that the debtors don’t have a specific plan in place to pay off the debt.
“From our last count, I think it is about 2.7 billion – ECG and NEDCo. The debt impacts our operations …it is an issue that is the reason government makes a conscious effort to find some resources for us to do the investment that we require. It is all with the understanding that this legacy debt will have to be addressed in a strategic way over time,” he said.
He added that there is a bulk of compensation that GRIDCo ought to pay to land owners who have leased out their lands to be used.
The Managing Director said the current state of the economy could worsen if there is a cut in electricity supply.
“.…tough economy not only the availability of fuel and electricity, the economy is tough, but if we don’t have these too, it will worsen the situation,” he stated.
The Grid Company is also spending over $200,000 to repair each destroyed power tower by illegal miners or ‘galamseyers’.
According to the Managing Director, some of their metal lines have been cut by scrap dealers, making power supply difficult.
“Galamsey cost is huge, some of them instead of one tower, we need to leave the tower place, get contractors to spend maybe $200,000 to insert an additional tower which under normal circumstances we shouldn’t have.
“When they do and the tower collapses, the cost of unserved energy, because industries will go down. Those are all big costs that we easily don’t quantify but it is really a challenge to us,” he said.
The Assemblyman for Pankorono Estate Electoral Area in the Ashanti Region, Nana Kwadwo Pimpim, says the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is to blame for
He said officials of for miscalculating the positioning of an electric pole in the middle of the Pankorono Estate-B line road.
Over the weekend, a video of an electric pole mounted in the middle of a road went viral on social media.
He admitted the video came from his area, adding that the poles were two but one had been removed.
The Assemblyman laid the blame on the officers of the ECG while reacting to the issue on the Ghana Yensom morning show hosted by Odehyeeba Kofi Essuman on Accra 100.5 FM on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
He said the ECG officers might have miscalculated the positioning of the pole in the area because the roads were not properly demarcated.
He explained that for sometime, the area had been lagging in terms of roads, but that it can now boast of 80 per cent roads under construction.
Because of the bad state of the road some of the electric poles to supply electricity to the home of residents were mounted without recourse to the proper demarcation of the road.
He said the electric pole emerged because of the construction of the road by Synohdro.
He said this would not have been an issue if the road had not been constructed by the government.
He was quick to add that an emergency meeting has been held between the contractor and the officials from the ECG for the road map for the pole to be moved from the middle of the road.
He gave the assurance that the pole will surely be moved from the middle of the road by the close of this week.
He took the opportunity to thank the Member of Parliament for Tafo-Pankorono Constituency, Ekow Vincent Assifuah, and the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Old Tafo Municipal Assembly, Lord Inusah Lansah, for the roles they played in having roads in the area constructed.
The Electricity Company of Ghana is undertaking planned maintenance works and as such some areas in Accra will witness power outage today.
According to the ECG in a public notice, power would be out from 9am to 4pm.
Areas to be affected by the company’s maintenance works include; Teshie Tsuibleoo, Teshie ultimate, Adenta P&T land, Shalom Estate, Teshie first junction, Teshie guess inn, Focus Hospital, Mr Smith, Teshie Camp 2.
The others are Pantang Village, Abokobi, Dodowa town, Appolonia, Saasabi, Oyibi and Adomrebe.
Meanwhile, the ECG has apologised to Ghanaians for the inconvenience caused. It has however promised improved service delivery after its maintenance works.
A swift intervention by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) on Wednesday managed to save two electrical poles owned by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) at Asankrangwa in the Western Region from ruins.
On January 11, 2023, about three electrical poles caught fire due to a bushfire at Kingston Town off the Asankra Odumase Road.
Firefighters from Asankrangwa Fire Station arrived at the scene and doused the flames in approximately 17 minutes.
The officers managed to rescue two electrical poles. Unfortunately, the third was burnt to a crisp while some parcels of vegetation were destroyed.
In a report on Facebook, the Ghana National Fire Service revealed that the cause of the incident is unknown and investigations are underway.
Meanwhile, the Service is also looking into a fire incident at the RANA MOTORS off the graphic road in Accra on Tuesday, January 10.
A two-storey building was destroyed due to the fire outbreak. The ground floor and part of the first floor used as a warehouse, four apartments, two each on the first and second floors and their contents were totally burnt.
However, a warehouse containing an unspecified amount of rubber products including car tyres and adjoining buildings including a workshop and a Toyota Company garage and showroom were salvaged.
Seven water pumps were utilised by the GNFS to quench the flames. During the operation, a firefighter sustained injury and was transported to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for medical attention.
Per reports from the Service, the said officer is currently in a stable condition.
To help ensure accident-free holiday celebrations, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has urged the general public to think carefully about using electrical power sparingly.
Mr Richard Mac-Ekor, Ho District Manager of the Company said the hazards associated with improper electricity were more likely during the period and could ruin the celebrations for entire households and communities, therefore all must help ensure safe consumption.
The District Manager made the call while sending season’s greetings through the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to customers and the public.
“We have to manage our celebrations during the yuletide and be mindful that electricity can shorten our happiness if we don’t follow principles,” he said, reminding us of the need to switch off all gadgets and appliances when leaving homes and other premises.
He said the ECG was working round the clock throughout the period to ensure uninterrupted supply, and that although major offices took their annual breaks, vital sections including the faults and the various vending points remained operational.
The District Manager wished the public a happy season and advised to limit alcohol consumption to be able to “identify electrical hazards and avoid them.
“Despite a challenging year, we have hope because of His (Christ) birth,” he said.
Mrs Patience Amuzu, Volta Regional President of the Power Queens Club of the ECG, also called to “make merry with caution,” and said women should ensure electrical appliances received the needed attention to prevent hazards and accidents.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has finally restored electricity to inhabitants of Nuaso in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region after nearly five months of no power.
The residents had over the months lamented over the lack of electricity in the community after a joint team of ECG and military personnel disconnected the community on August 22, three days after power was restored to the Krobo area after a month of total outage over the installation of prepaid meters.
A clash between soldiers and some agitated residents during the disconnection led to eight residents sustaining gunshot wounds.
The affected customers bemoaned that the situation was hindering economic, social and domestic activities in the community.
Several engagements involving the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the area, Simon Kwaku Tetteh, the National Security Ministry, the Energy Ministry, the Assemblyman for the area, Hon Samuel Torgbor, management of the ECG and some prominent personalities in the community were held towards restoring power to the area.
Currently, prepaid meters are being installed in various households in the community without any agitations in the final phase of the month-long controversial exercise in the Krobo area.
Some residents who spoke with GhanaWeb in an interview expressed relief at the restoration of the power supply to the neighbourhood.
They however lamented that their sources of livelihood were affected with many of them thrown out of business.
A hairdresser, Tettey Mercy Angmorkie said, “The light out affected our businesses but we are happy to power has been restored. We could not work because we rely on power for our work so we ended up sitting down without working.”
Another, Bernice Asimeh, a cold store operator said she was forced to close down her shop and only resumed work following the restoration of power to the community. “It affected us because I use the fridge to freeze my drinks so when we were in the dark it affected me so much.”
Bernice who said she initially opposed the prepaid meters said though she still prefers the postpaid meters, she was nevertheless ready to accept the new meters now. “We have nothing to say, we’re just there so when they bring it we’ll accept it,” she expressed.
According to her, she has lost many of her customers as a result and it would take her a long time to get them back.
A manager of a car washing bay, Francis Asimeh said all the 25 employees who worked at the facility before the outage became unemployed, forcing them to join other nearby washing bays to enable them to make ends meet.
He said though they were making sales of between Ghc150 and Ghc200 a day before the outage, they’re unable to make as many sales now as they notify their customers to return to their base for business.
The respondents however expressed their preparedness to accept the prepaid meters currently being rolled out in the community but called for further sensitization from the power distributors.
Assemblymember for Nuaso Old Town, Samuel Torgbor said the people were happy that power supply had been restored to the area and blamed the lack of understanding for the unfortunate incident.
On her part, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Tema Region, Miss Sakyiwaa Mensah said the company’s decision to restore power to the area followed an agreement reached from engagements with various stakeholders to safeguard ECG interests in the area.
“There had been ongoing discussions with various stakeholders, aimed at restoring power, safeguarding ECG property and ensuring that work can be carried out in a safe environment. The restoration is part of the consensus reached from these stakeholder engagements with chiefs, opinion leaders and management of ECG,” she said.
She furthered that the meter installation exercise has been completed at Nuaso New Town and currently progressing smoothly at Nuaso Old Town. “It has been smooth so far. ECG is appreciative of the cordial working environment which has enabled work to go on smoothly,” noted the PRO.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has announced that it will observe the statutory holidays during the Yuletide and New Year seasons.
The holidays will be observed on December 26 and 27, 2022, as well as January 2 and 9, 2023.
As such, ECG offices across the country will not be opened for business on the aforementioned dates to allow its staff to celebrate the holidays.
A public notice from the Company sighted by The Independent Ghana, however, advised its customers who would be in dire need of power to “purchase electricity credit through the ECG Mobile App or a private vending point.”
Meanwhile, prepaid users are encouraged to ensure they purchase enough power that will carry them through the Christmas and New Year holidays since ECG offices will be closed temporarily.
The Electricity Company of Ghana aside from informing Ghanaians of its recent initiative, also took advantage to wish all and sundry a happy holiday.
Over the years, there have been requests for the corporation to be sold to a strategic partner in order to improve its financial and operational condition.
However, according to John Mahama’s most recent idea, privatizing the electricity distribution firm will actually increase efficiency and strengthen its attempts to raise money.
“It is something that we need to look at again because ECG as state-owned enterprise is not able to collect its money efficiently, it needs some private sector injections,” John Mahama said.
“One of the things we need to do is to roll out prepaid meter as quickly as possible, because if you have a prepaid meter, nobody will come and read your meter and bring a bill and you won’t pay and all that…”
He continued, “…And so I do believe we must still seek the privatisation of the Electricity Company of Ghana, so that we can inject more investment into it, because some of that money was going to provide more money for prepaid meters and also improve efficiency of collection of bills.”
He believes the revenue performance of the power distribution company can be doubled as he is intent on buying the ECG to make it more profitable.
Speaking in an earlier interview on Pan African TV, Hassan Ayariga said he wants to purchase ECG in other to provide better services for all Ghanaians.
“They [Government] should sell ECG to me; I am ready to purchase the company. Even if they [Government] do not intend to sell the ECG, they should tell me how much revenue they intend to achieve every month.”
“…Government should sit with me on live television so we can bargain the cost of the ECG, how much they make and seek to achieve in revenue every month. I will give them two times the revenue amount and manage the ECG,” he earlier said.
He added that whatever revenue the government intends to rake in from the ECG, he [Hassan Ayariga] is willing to double the amount, should he be given the opportunity to purchase the company.
“If they want US$500 million a month, I will give them US$1 billion a month,” he added.
The Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) William Boateng has suggested that prepaid meter users strive to purchase enough for their homes for the holiday season and beyond.
Speaking on Kumasi-based Abusua FM, Mr. Willliam Boateng stated that, “those of our customers who use prepaid meters should try and buy enough for their homes this Christmas and after”.
“Don’t buy with little money and say I will go and buy another during Christmas. That will cause discomfort because we will all go for Christmas break. Those who will be available for sales will be few,” he further cautioned.
“You know how much you consume so do well to buy enough otherwise these vendors may not open their shops for you to purchase power during the festive season. You may also have to join long queues at our various offices which will bring inconveniences,” William Boateng told Kojo Marfo on the show “Abusua Nkommo”.
Mr Boateng however, assured the public that, sales persons at the ECG offices will continue to work during the holidays so that customers who may troop in to their offices can have power to buy.
Customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana in the Lower Manya and Yilo Krobo Municipalities of the Eastern Region have expressed divergent experiences over the use of prepaid meters.
Backed by the military, most parts of the Krobo area have been successfully rolled onto the new meters by the ECG after several months of hostilities between the power distributors and their customers over the deployment of the meters.
Months after some communities have been rolled onto the new billing system, GhanaWeb interacted with some residents and business operators on their experiences with the meters.
For Georgina Ametepey Ghalley, the meter was installed at her shop in August 2022. A seamstress at Somanya said purchasing Ghc50 worth of credit is always enough to last her for over a month compared to her average monthly bill of Ghc 70 on the postpaid meters. To her, the meter has proven to be a better option as she’s in a position to monitor her consumption.
“My experience so far, the prepaid meter is okay, not like the postpaid. At times the bills that will come are very high at times too they say it’s a network problem so the prepaid is better,” she said. “Because I can check my balance, what I’ve used for the day and everything so I think the prepaid is okay.”
Having used this type of meter before, she had no fears prior to its deployment, contrary to the reservations of most people in the locality.
According to her, she still uses the same items and does not have cause to adjust their usage in any way.
Auntie Victoria Mamle, a waakye (rice and beans) seller and also a resident of Mampong had the meters installed for her some three months ago.
Admitting that she was one of many opponents to the introduction of the new meters, she said her reservations were over buying of credit, adding that her fears were being confirmed.
“We didn’t want it because of the credit you’ll buy,” she said. “If we had the old one, we can get the money to pay for the monthly bills but this one if you don’t have money today and it is finished, you’ll go off.”
Expressing her frustrations over the situation, Auntie Mamle complained that she buys about Ghc200 worth of credit in a month, twice her monthly bill on the postpaid meters. She said, “I think the old one is good because since I got this meter, if I buy the credit like Ghc50, I don’t even get one week and it’s finished so I think the old one is good because with the old one, in a month, I get a bill of between Ghc90 and Ghc100.”
Some customers however believe the ECG is using the new meters to defray its old bills.
Though the power consumer assured the residents that the old bills would not be passed onto the new meters, some of the residents believe the ECG is subtly defraying the existing bills on the old meters with the deduction of what it calls service charges.
According to them, the service charges of about 15% of the amount bought, are deducted with the remaining credit lasting them relatively shorter periods compared with the postpaid meters.
Auntie Doris Odonkor, a fishmonger at Ayikpala, a suburb of Kpong owns three meters in her house. She explained that the service charges being deducted were mere smokescreens behind which the Company hides to deduct the accumulated bills on her meters.
“When the meters were fixed, they were each credited with Ghc10.00. The ten cedis ran out after three days and I bought an additional Ghc100. Out of this Ghc15 was deducted,” she said.
According to her, the charges were explained as processing and maintenance fees, adding that these deductions were repeated when she returned to buy more credit.
The elderly woman furthered that her fears that she would struggle to understand how the meter works due to her poor education were manifest.
Assemblyman for Kpong Ahudzo, honorable Raymond Gborson observed that there was very little difference between the postpaid and prepaid meters.
Estimating his monthly expenses on the prepaid meters compared to the postpaid bills, the Assemblyman said his consumption was around the same amount.
“Using this for a month, I don’t see any difference between this one and the postpaid ones. This one is paying as you go, the only difference is that if you don’t have credit on it, you can’t use it as compared to the postpaid ones that you can use as and when you have money,” he said.
Contrary to complaints of deductions from some consumers, Hon Gborson said he only paid the statutory charges through the deductions whenever he bought credit although he admits he had unpaid bills on the postpaid meters.
To him, the agitations that greeted the proposed installation process stemmed from the low education ahead of the deployment of the meters.
He added that following the instructions on the meter was easy and called for understanding and acceptance by all and sundry.
He noted: “The agitation of people before the installation of the prepaid to me has been that proper and vivid education has not taken place…for years, decades Krobos and for that matter we Ghanaians were used to the postpaid meters.”
The management and staff of the Krobo District of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) embarked on a health walk on Saturday (29 October 2022) as part of activities marking this year’s breast cancer awareness month.
The month-long awareness programme is spearheaded by the Power Queens Club of the power distribution company. The club is an association of all the female staff of the organisation.
The month of October has been set aside as breast cancer awareness month all over the world. Various activities are planned towards creating awareness on the disease.
Some choose various themes to mark the celebration. The encouragement of women and men to get screened remains a top awareness issue for many organisations.
In ECG, the Power Queens Club has been spearheading the month-long awareness creation on breast cancer. Across the various operational districts of the organisation, a number of activities were carried out, with opportunities for people to get screened.
The Krobo District of the ECG has been participating in this month-long awareness programme. To climax it, the management and staff of the district walked up the Acineci Mountain in Krobo. They did this alongside staff from other operational areas and supporting personnel who are aiding general work in the district.
The acting Krobo district manager, Ing. Christopher Apawu said that they had indeed taken the breast cancer awareness creation seriously and had been encouraging all staff to get screened.
“We also encourage them to encourage their families and friends to get screened because it has been determined that early detection of breast cancer helps in easier management of it,” he said.
“Medical diagnosis has shown that men are also at risk of the disease hence all staff were roped into the various activities and encouraged to partake in the screening processes,” he added.
The executives of the Power Queens Club in the district have played an active role in the month-long activities. They thanked the management of the district for creating the enabling environment for them to carry on with the awareness programme in October.
Customers adversely affected by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)’s prepayment system vending failure will today begin processing claims forms to be submitted to the ECG District Offices for compensation.
This follows an engagement between the PURC and ECG regarding the compensation of clients affected by ECG’s Prepayment System in the Volta Region, Accra, Central Region, Western Region, Ashanti Region, and Eastern Region, among others.
Dr. Ishmael Ackah, Executive Secretary, PURC, in a statement signed and issued and copied to the paper in Accra on Friday, said the ECG, under PURC’s regulatory oversight, shall investigate and analyse the information contained in submitted forms and compensate affected customers accordingly.
“Only customers whose electricity supply was interrupted due to the vending failure will be considered for compensation,” he added.
Dr. Ackah used the opportunity to assure all stakeholders that the Commission was committed to protecting the interests of both utilities and consumers.
Meanwhile, ECG, at a presser recently in Accra, said it could not undertake a wholesale compensation payment to all customers of the company as directed by the PURC for the recent power crisis.
Instead, the company noted, it was prepared to abide by the laid down procedure to pay compensation to affected customers on a case-by-case basis.
Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik Mahama, said his outfit was preparing to engage the PURC on the need to alter the directive to make case by case the basis of payment of compensation.
Seven individuals in the Bekwai municipality of the Ashanti Region have been found complicit in the stealing of power from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) through illegal connection.
They were tracked down by the ECG Regional Taskforce mandated to check illegal power connections.
Leader of the ECG Regional Taskforce, Ing. Kwabena Acheampong, says the illegal connection has caused the ECG a lot of revenue loss, hence the constitution of the taskforce to tackle the menace.
“We are moving from house to house checking illegality. People we have disconnected due to non-payment of electricity and have self-reconnected, people who have done illegal connections and are using our electricity for free.
“We are creating awareness that when you use electricity, it is your civic responsibility that you pay for what you use,” he stated.
The taskforce operates with the Police to facilitate the prosecution of suspects.
One of the suspects, who is an assembly member, was arrested for self-reconnection.
He was disconnected for owing electricity bills but says he reconnected with the intent of paying his debt the following day.
“I owe bills but I have not paid in full so I did self-reconnection to pay later but it was not my intention to reconnect.”
Another suspect says he reconnected thinking his cable disconnected by default.
“Every time they disconnect, the meter is sealed. But this time, they left it opened so I reconnected. It was not deliberate,” he told Adom News.
ECG says it has addressed all challenges that marred its metering systems, hence the need to refrain from any panic buying.
Addressing the media, the Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik said all of its platforms are operational including the vending app on Android mobile phones.
“I would like to reiterate that if your power is not finished, don’t panic, just take your time because if you run out you can buy credit, so we are able to reduce the queues that are forming. But all third parties are up. All those with challenges should go to the ECG offices for the issue to be resolved. We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and we intend to do right for the people of Ghana”.
The ECG said a technical challenge affected its prepaidmetering systems, a development which has interrupted the purchase of electricity credit.
Both domestic and commercial users who run out of power supply were not able to make purchases due to the technical challenge.
Compensation
Some consumers have been counting their losses, with some saying their businesses have been affected negatively following their inability to purchase electricity.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has directed the ECG to compensate customers affected by its prepaid vending and metering glitch.
The directive according to the PURC is in line with the breach of the ECG’s statutory obligations.
The ECG had ruled out any payment of compensation following the vending failure in its prepayment system which has affected consumers for the past one week adding that, such a decision if considered, will be made on a case-by-case basis.
But in a statement issued on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, the PURC said, “it hereby orders ECG to pay compensation to the affected customers”.
This, it says, is in compliance with the law and a demonstration of good customer service.
These compensations will come in the form of one-time electricity credit commencing October 1, 2022 and ending October 7, 2022.
ECG says it has addressed all challenges that marred its metering systems, hence the need to refrain from any panic buying.
Addressing the media, the Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik said all of its platforms are operational including the vending app on Android mobile phones.
“I would like to reiterate that if your power is not finished, don’t panic, just take your time because if you run out you can buy credit, so we are able to reduce the queues that are forming. But all third parties are up. All those with challenges should go to the ECG offices for the issue to be resolved. We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and we intend to do right for the people of Ghana”.
The ECG said a technical challenge affected its prepaid metering systems, a development which has interrupted the purchase of electricity credit.
Both domestic and commercial users who run out of power supply were not able to make purchases due to the technical challenge.
Compensation
Some consumers have been counting their losses, with some saying their businesses have been affected negatively following their inability to purchase electricity.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has directed the ECG to compensate customers affected by its prepaid vending and metering glitch.
The directive according to the PURC is in line with the breach of the ECG’s statutory obligations.
The ECG had ruled out any payment of compensation following the vending failure in its prepayment system which has affected consumers for the past one week adding that, such a decision if considered, will be made on a case-by-case basis.
But in a statement issued on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, the PURC said, “it hereby orders ECG to pay compensation to the affected customers”.
This, it says, is in compliance with the law and a demonstration of good customer service.
These compensations will come in the form of one-time electricity credit commencing October 1, 2022 and ending October 7, 2022.
Presidential hopeful, Kojo Nsafoah Poku, has alleged that the recent challenges with the payment system of the Electricity Company of Ghana are resultant of a deliberate cyber-attack by some individuals.
According to him, some people intentionally introduced a virus into the system of the ECG to hide some crimes they committed.
He added that the IT staff at the ECG cannot be involved in the current challenges, as is being asserted, because they do not want any third party to be brought on board because of their inability to perform.
“The ICT staff are against the hiring of a third party to help with the payment system of the ECG and so they will never do something that will lead to that. Now that their payment system is down, people will be saying that the 3rd party has to be brought on board and that is not what the ECG staff want.
“There is someone at the ECG who is refusing to give data or equipment for the issue to be resolved and EOCO has now gone to take them by force. The person is the one with a motive. Now, there is a subject of criminality because the person might be trying to hide some bad things she/he has done including the possibility of shortchanging the company in terms of revenues acquired through the payment system.
“The truth is that the person has introduced a virus into the system of the ECG and that is why Ghanaians now have to struggle in order to purchase electricity,” he said in Twi in an XYZ TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb.
He urged Ghanaians to be patient because the security apparatus of the country including the National Cyber Security Centre, and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), have taken up the matter and will get to the bottom of it.
Since Tuesday, 27 September 2022, ECG customers across the country have struggled to purchase prepaid credits for their prepaid metres.
The ECG announced that it was experiencing challenges with the purchase of electricity by customers on the E-cash and PNS metering systems.
In a public announcement, the ECG noted that the interruption is due to “a technical challenge.”
The power distribution company, however, assured customers in the affected areas that its “engineers are working assiduously to correct the anomaly and restore the system to normalcy.”
Some Ghanaians including a System Analyst and Cyber Security Consultant, Yayra Koku, have alleged that the current challenge with the Electricity Company of Ghana’s prepaid vending system is a deliberate ploy to make way for the procurement of a new payment platform from a private company called Hubtel.
In a post shared on Twitter on Monday, October 3, 2022, Yayra Koku said that there is nothing wrong with the current payment system of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) but some people want to change it because of a 4 percent commission they stand to get.
The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has established that about 2,000 people have been affected directly by the flooding at Weija.
Communities close to the Weija Dam, including Weija, Oblogo and Tetegu, have been submerged by loads of water after the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) opened the five spill gates of the dam to spill water to save it from collapse.
The Weija-Gbawe Director of NADMO, Emmanuel Adu Boahene, who accompanied the Director General of NADMO, Nana Agyemang-Prempeh, and a team from the organisation, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic yesterday.
It was during a tour of the flooded areas to assess the extent of flooding, which was rising by the hour because of continuous spillage.
He said the NADMO team was still conducting an assessment to determine the actual number of people displaced by the floods.
Mr Adu Boahene said a haven had been created for displaced persons.
Tour
During the tour, Mr Agyemang-Prempeh visited the Weija Dam to see first-hand the spillage being carried out at Oblogo, Tatop, New Weija and the Weija estuary where he interacted with some victims of the flood.
He was accompanied by his Deputy, Abu Ramadan; the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Patrick Kumor, and other officials from both the national and municipal NADMO directorates.
At Oblogo, Mr Agyemang-Prempeh told some of the victims of the flood that it was unacceptable to put up buildings within the buffer zone of the dam.
He, therefore, asked them to relocate since the place was not meant for human habitation but irrigation.
Mr Agyemang-Prempeh said he sympathised with them and would not want them to go through such an ordeal again; hence, the need to relocate since illegal structures within the buffer would be pulled down after the water had receded.
However, he said, some relief items would be presented by yesterday and today to help alleviate their plight.
The items, which would be distributed on a needs basis will include buckets, plates, blankets, mosquito nets and coil, rice, mattresses and sugar.
Flooding
The NADMO boss said flooding had been experienced from the north through to the middle belt and then down south due to rains and galamsey activities.
At the Weija Dam, for instance, he said there was no choice but to spill the excess water.
Victims
Some of the victims said they needed sleeping places and food since they had lost everything to the floods.
One of the victims, Ama Tawiah, said for three days, she had not been able to go to her house because the place was flooded and added that she had to sleep in the open under a tree.
Another victim, Patience Ametepe, said she had lost her foodstuffs and items in her small grocery shop, which she stocked only last Saturday.
“These are the items I sell to survive but now I have lost all of them in the flood. I can’t even go to my house because it is flooded and all the food items have been destroyed,” she lamented.
Cashing in
Meanwhile, some canoe owners are taking advantage of the floods to make quick profits by offerings their boats to ferry victims.
Passengers ride in small canoes for short distances at GH¢10, while transportation of personal effects over a short distance may cost about GH¢10.
ECG
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has sent notice that it had to put off the power supply to the affected areas to safeguard lives and property, since “electricity does not go well with water”.
The Accra West Regional Manager of the ECG, Ebenezer Gunney, who made that known to the Daily Graphic, said “we would restore power when we deem it safe”.
“We are assessing the situation on the ground and the power will be restored to the affected areas when we deem it safe for lives and property,” Mr Gunney said.
For his part, the Weija-Gbawe MCE said the good news was that the water levels from the Eastern Region were reducing, which could result in the closure of some gates at the dam to reduce the pressure on the affected communities.
John Jinapor, the ranking member of the Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, has claimed that the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana intends to transfer control of its payment system to a for-profit organization called Hubtel.
He claims that the private firm is the same one where Kwame Agyeman-Budu, the former MD of ECG, allegedly intended to take control of its payment system for a commission of 1.5 percent.
Speaking on the Good Morning Ghana show on October 4, 2022, John Jinapor alleged that current ECG management is now trying to privatize the payment system at a 4 percent commission rate.
“I’m even told that Hubtel is proposing to charge 4 percent commission. So, there is a lot of internal upheaval among some ECG staff,” he indicated.
He continued, “Don’t forget that during Budu’s time he wanted to embark on the same thing and charge 1.5 (percent commission). The ECG staff held press conferences publicly and agitated against the 1.5 percent commission.”
“They (the ECG staff) believe that they have already developed the app and that it should not cost that much to bring on board a third party,” the MP said.
He added that the National Security has since been engaged in the matter and is probing details of the alleged transaction.
