Power restored to Kejetia market after two days of darkness due to unpaid debt

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has finally restored power to the Kumasi Kejetia Market after a two-day blackout caused by unpaid electricity bills totalling over GH¢2.9 million.

ECG disconnected power to more than 7,000 shops, administrative offices, and other facilities in the market due to the outstanding debt.

On August 14, 2024, the market’s management made a payment of Four hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢400,000) to ECG and agreed to a payment plan for the remaining debt, leading to the restoration of power.

Speaking to GHone News, Nana Poku Director in Charge of the Market’s Operations revealed that as of May 2024, the market owed ECG a total of 75 billion old Ghana Cedis.

“By August 15, 2024, we had already paid over GH¢6 billion new Ghana Cedis (equivalent to 60 billion old Ghana Cedis). However, we still owe around 2.7 million Ghana Cedis. Before the disconnection, ECG warned us, but we were unable to meet their demands because many traders were refusing to pay their bills, leading to the disconnection,” a market official explained.

The market’s debt is divided into three phases, totalling approximately GH¢21 million new Ghana Cedis (equivalent to 21 billion old Ghana Cedis).

The breakdown includes 5.4 billion old Ghana Cedis for May, 8.7 billion for June, and a legacy debt of 6.9 billion cedis.

As part of the payment plan presented to ECG, the market management have made commitment of paying one hundred thousand Ghana cedis (GH¢100,000) per day, starting from August 13, 2024.

To ensure compliance, several shops have been locked, pushing traders to pay their outstanding bills. The market official noted that this strategy has been effective, as traders have begun making payments.

The official blamed the traders and shop owners for the situation, insisting that if they had paid their bills on time, ECG would not have had any reason to disconnect the electricity.

The director of operations in the market said “We are conducting targeted debt collection from those who haven’t paid. With our payment plan of GH¢100,000 per day, we aim to clear our May debt of 5.4 billion old cedis by August 20, 2024. For the June bill, we proposed a four-part payment structure, with daily payments of 2 billion old cedis from August 23 to September 6, 2024, to clear the 8.7 billion old cedis debt. While this payment plan may affect traders’ capital, we have no option but to comply,” he reiterated.

The legacy debt payment structure is also divided into three phases, with daily payments of 2.5 million old cedis, aiming to clear the entire GH¢21 billion new cedis debt by September 6, 2024.