Coronavirus: Free electricity for the vulnerable - Akufo-Addo

Government has said it will absorb the electricity bills of low-income consumers in the country for April, May and June.

According to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the remaining consumers who fall outside of this category will enjoy a 50 per cent reduction in the cost of electricity for the same period.

The President made this known on Thursday, April 9, 2020, in his sixth televised address to the nation since the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in the country.

“We have decided further measures of mitigation for Ghanaians for the next three months...Government will fully absorb electricity bills for the poorest of the poor, i.e.: lifeline consumers. This will cover persons who consume 0 to 50-kilowatt hours per month for this period. This forms part of relief interventions by the state amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Other categories of consumers will enjoy a 50 per cent discount within the same period. For all other consumers, residential and commercial, the government will absorb 50 per cent of your electricity bill for this period using your March 2020 bill as the benchmark,” he noted.

This, the president explained that, if your electricity bill in March was GHC100.00, you will be paying GHC50.00 "with government absorbing the remaining GHC50.00’.

Akufo-Addo explained that the new intervention by government is to support industries, enterprises, as well as the service sector in these difficult times and "to provide some relief to households".

He then urged Ghanaians to exercise discipline in the use of electricity and water.

Watch the President's address below.