May Day: Government reviewing ECG concession to ensure job security

President Nana Akufo Addo has announced that his government is reviewing the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Power Compact II agreement on the concession of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to ensure no worker loses his/her work.

According to him, his administration is working to ensure there’s majority Ghanaian ownership of the deal and reduction of the agreement term from 25 to 20 years.

The Trades Union and The Public Utilities Workers Union have led a strong opposition to the agreement as they fear many ECG staff will be sacked when ECG is privatized under the deal.

Addressing workers at this year’s May Day at the Black Star Square in Accra on Monday, the president was confident the new changes to the agreement will be welcomed by Ghanaians, especially workers of ECG who are worried about their job security.

“We have stated that we are taking a second look at the ECG compact. We are driven by two consideration. We are as concerned as the workers that the reform should not lead to involuntary job loses and we should find a long term solution to the nation’s electricity problem.

In this regard, [the] government is amending the terms of the agreement of the concession agreement to require that:

1. Ghanaians own at least 51 percent of the concession.

2. There should be no involuntary layoffs as the result of the concession.

3. The term of the concession will be reduced fro 25 to 20 years.”

He added: “We believe that these amendments meet the aspirations of Ghanaians in protecting the jobs of workers and ensuring the control and viability of the ECG.”