NEDCo cuts power supply to St. Anne's Hospital in Damongo over GH¢4m debt

Correspondence from Savannah Region

The St. Anne's Hospital in Damongo in the West Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region has become the latest victim of the ongoing disconnection exercise of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) over unpaid debt.

The disconnection of power supply to the health facility which took place in the early hours of today, May 4, 2023, was a result of indebtedness owed the company in excess of Gh¢4 million.

The exercise undertaken by the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) has since enraged clients of the facility with some calling for the transfer of the area manager of NEDCo.

Speaking in an interview with GhanaWeb, the Accountant of the hospital, Mr. Andrew Rashid Damba described the action of the electricity company as a blatant disregard of a convention agreed by the Ministry of Health, CHAG, GHS, Ministry of Finance, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Volta River Authority representing the NEDCo.

According to him, a joint meeting held on 27th April 2023, convened by the Ministry of Health between CHAG, GHS, Ministry of Finance and the power distribution companies in Ghana agreed to suspend the ongoing mass disconnection exercise affecting the CHAG network and GHS facilities.

He wondered why NEDCo disregarded the convention as agreed by the stakeholders to cut power supply to the health facility.

"I even shared a copy of the letter issued by the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) to the area manager but he ignored it and sanctioned his engineers to disconnect the hospital from electricity despite numerous persuasions," he explained.

Mr. Rashid lamented that the situation will have a negative effect on both the hospital and clients and pleaded with authorities to resolve the impasse.

"We have corpses at the hospital morgue and can't afford to go a day without power. The foul smell that will emanate from the morgue can't be contained and it has health implications as well. We are therefore appealing to the Northern Electricity Distribution Company to restore power to the hospital".

He further noted that "clients of the hospital are currently stranded at the OPD as a result of the lack of electricity in the hospital".

He bemoaned that though the hospital has a power plant, they can't depend on it because of the cost involved in fueling it.

Residents and clients who spoke to GhanaWeb's Regional Correspondent, Ezekiel Abdul Aziz expressed fears for their lives if power is not restored to the hospital.

They berated the area manager over what they described as his "lack of compassion and respect for clients who visit his office and asked stakeholders to keep him in check.

Meanwhile, the area manager of NEDCo declined to speak on the matter when contacted.