The Managing Director of Electricity Company of Ghana(ECG), Samuel Dubik Masubir Mahama has said the military personnel deployed to the Krobo enclave are specifically electrical engineers helping them with installation exercise.
The NDC, Coalition of Religious Bodies, and Divisional Chiefs have all called for the withdrawal of the military to de-escalate the tension.
The ECG Boss in reaction to the calls said further engagements and consensus could be reached shortly for the way forward.
“We needed engineers on the grounds who will help us speed up the installation exercise. Thankfully we had the support of the military who gave us electrical engineers to beef up the ECG team. Let’s cooperate with them to get the job done,” the ECG MD said.
The Managing Director of Electricity Company of Ghana, ECG, Samuel Dubik Masubir Mahama on Thursday, September 1, 2022 led management to pay working visit to Yilo and Manya Krobo to assess the progress of prepaid meter installation exercise and the condition of ECG installations in the enclave.
This is the first time the new MD is visiting the area in the heat of the renewed feud between ECG and residents in the Krobo area over the replacement of postpaid meters with Prepaid.
Addressing the media in Somanya Office of ECG, before the commencement of the working visit to the area, the Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik Masubir Mahama said the visit is to enable management get a fair idea of what is happening on the ground, assess it’s installations and interact with the staff on their challenges.
The MD however noted that, ECG is within the range of 9,000 prepaid meter installation in the Krobo Area despite the resistance hoping the company gets maximum cooperation to complete the exercise.
The ECG MD assured customers of ECG in the Krobo area that enough prepaid sale points will be made available in the communities in partnership with the private sector to address their concerns. He also assured of quality service to customers in the Krobo area.
The impasse between ECG and Krobo residents has existed for many years and led to deadly clashes.
It was fundamentally caused by some over billing in the system.
However, ECG says it has ring-fenced 2014 to 2017 debt while it instituted a five-year moratorium for the payment of debt owed the company from 2017 to 2021.
ECG’s plans to permanently resolve the billing issues with the introduction of prepaid meters in the Krobo area was however met with resistance from a section of the residents and sub-chiefs.
The standoff and tampering of transformers forced ECG to cut power supply to Yilo and Manya krobo municipalities on July 27, 2022.
However, power was restored on August 19, 2022, with the exclusion of Nuaso community. The military subsequently invaded the community brutalized residents over alleged provocative attacks and obstruction.
