Demonstration against high electricity tariffs

Kumasi, Jan. 30, GNA - A group calling itself Patriotic Citizens of Kumasi said it would go on a peaceful demonstration on Thursday in protest against "unbearable and unacceptable" electricity tariffs imposed on the people by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) since November 2007.

The demonstration will seek to draw public attention to the high tariffs and to force the ECG to tell the public the percentage by which it had increased electricity tariffs.

In a statement signed by Mr Richard Asante, Fred Asamoah and Kofi Boateng, leading members of the group and issued in Kumasi on Tuesday, the group said the demonstration was in response to the failure of the ECG to explain its tariff increases to the public. The Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) last year announced a 35 per cent increase in tariffs and it was supposed to take effect from November 2007.

But to their surprise, consumers noticed massive increases in their November bills ranging between 100 and 400 per cent.