United Krobo Foundation petitions President Akufo-Addo to intervene in standoff with ECG

Krobo pressure group, United Krobo Foundation says President Akufo-Addo must intervene in its four-year battle with the ECG as part of efforts to bring a lasting solution to the impasse.

This is contained in a petition addressed to the President and presented at a press conference on Thursday, November 19, 2020, at Agomanya.

The presser characterized by the attendance by hundreds of residents outfitted in a red costume and wielding placards with inscriptions like, ‘Nana Addo, Krobos are for you so do something, we don’t want ECG again, they are corrupt, etc,' chanted and sang war songs to symbolize their seriousness about the raging impasse.

The President is expected to visit the area in the coming days and the group believes he must address the issue as part of his visit to the community.

Tensions between residents of Lower Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo the Electricity Company Ghana have escalated in recent years and resulted in violent clashes between the police and the youth over a mass disconnection exercise undertaken by the latter as part of efforts to retrieve unpaid bills.

The unpaid electricity bills had accrued from 2014.

The incident claimed the life of one of the protesters, while several others sustained various degrees of injuries.

However, the United Krobo Foundation maintains that there was an existing Memorandum of Understanding over the payment of power bills between Krobos and the Volta River Authority (VRA) when the government took part of their lands for the construction of the Akosombo Dam in the 1960s.

The group maintains that four years after the impasse, very little has been done to ensure satisfactory resolution of the issue despite an executive order to the ECG to investigate the issue.

“Your Excellency, for almost four years now there had been a conflict between the Krobos and ECG about over-charging or overbilling of electricity tariff which you were aware. It was petitioned to the President of the Republic of Ghana and he in his wisdom, referred the issue to the ECG boss to investigate,” the UKF stated.

The UKF in a petition signed by its Chairman, Nene Aziza, Vice Chairman, Rev. Alex Konotey, Secretary, Joshua Evor, Teye Kwao Kassim, the PRO, Rev. John Appertey, Vice PRO and Moses Kwadjo Atteh, treasurer together with 18 members of the council of elders, recalled that a committee set up before the clashes to investigate the billing issues, after summoning all parties involved in the issue, exonerated the position of the consumers in the area.

“The ECG boss set up a committee called Kofi Afeau Committee to investigate the allegation the Krobos made against the ECG. The Kofi Afeau committee invited all the stake holders involved, went deep down into the matter and established the fact that 99% of what the Krobos said against ECG is a fact.”

Despite the findings of the Kofi Afeau committee which was presented to the ECG, not much, the UKF said has been done to “give to the people in the Krobo area of jurisdiction in terms of withdrawing the over-charged bill distributed to the clients.”

The group also refuted claims of a report it said was rumoured to have been presented to the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo that the issue had been settled and added that it was determined to fight for the rights of the people as the majority of them have still refused to pay the wrong bills, insisting that ECG rectify the anomaly.

The UKF, in its petition, accused the Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfuor and Minister for Energy, John Peter Amewu of failing to fulfil promises made to handle the conflict and pay the medical expenses of all the injured persons.

The group is therefore calling on the President to intervene in the matter.

“It will not be surprising that your intervention into this light bill issue and address same on platform as part of your campaign message in Krobo land will have a positive effect and will take the NPP to the next level in Krobo land.”

The group is therefore among others, demanding the cancellation of the “controversial overbilling debt being charged consumers and the direct supply of power from VRA as part of their social responsibilities to the people of Kroboland.

Failure to address these concerns, the group warns, could result in a re-enactment of the 2018 disturbances.

PRO of the group in an interview said Krobos were not reluctant to pay their electricity bills but only want the power suppliers to address all anomalies and adequately compensate the victims wounded in the shootings.

“After the shooting, the regional minister came here together with the energy minister who was briefed about the whole problem and he [energy minister] promised to set up a committee to investigate the shootings to compensate the victims [13] but up till now, that committee has not been established,” said the PRO.

“If they’re unable to establish the committee, then we’re also telling them that we won’t pay the light bills. Krobos are not saying we won’t pay the bills because it's human beings who are working over there but if they bring us unreasonable bills, then we won’t pay…ECG should not distribute any bills [to consumers] because we won’t pay,” he stressed.

One of the injured victims, Kortey Tetteh Felix blamed the Municipal Chief Executive for the area, Simon Kweku Tetteh for reneging on his promise to ensure the upkeep of the victims.

He said even though the Assembly Chief has paid the medical bills of Ghc8000 each of two of the victims admitted at the hospital plus other expenses, very little had been done for their upkeep.

Meanwhile, the MCE when contacted refuted the claims and said he has made personal contributions for the upkeep of the victims.