ECG workers disrupt operations
The Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU) yesterday commenced a three-day demonstration across the regional and district offices of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to put pressure on the government to back down on its intention to give the ECG out to a private investor.
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The union, at a press conference last Tuesday, said it believed strongly that the ECG could be transformed to achieve the goals of the Second Compact of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) without private sector participation (PSP), saying that could be done through disciplined managerial and governance transformation devoid of political interference.
It, therefore, called on the government to review the terms of the 25-year concession arrangement under the Second Compact of the MCC under which the company was to be privatised.
The leadership of the union, at the press conference, announced the decision to stage three-hour demonstrations for three days in the regional and district offices of the ECG, beginning yesterday to Friday, August 26, 2016, from 8 a.m., while flying red flags, pending further notice.
Timothy Ngnenbe reports that when the Daily Graphic visited some of the offices of the ECG, including those of the Accra East and the Accra West regions, as well as the Korle Bu District, it was observed that red bands had been tied to the entrances of all the offices, while the internal security was at post to maintain order.
At the Accra East Regional Office, for instance, about 100 members of the union, clad in red shirts, had gathered on the premises.
They chanted and danced to Kpalongo music to show their displeasure, while the gate was closed to clients who were there to be served.
The workers carried placards, some of which read: “ECG is not for sale”, “If ECG should go on concession, the government of Ghana must go first”, “Ghanaians are taking directives from the World Bank and not GoG” and “Government, pay ECG to pay VRA”.
Members determined
In a defiant mood, the National Divisional Chairman of the Junior Staff Union (JUSU) of the ECG, Mr Benedict Kanoseh, said the union was ready to go full length to ensure that the privatisation process was reviewed.
“We the workers of the ECG are of the view that things are not being done properly. Right from the word go, we expected the government to discuss issues with the ECG management for the way forward to address the issues in the public interest,” he added.
The situation at the Accra West Region was not different from that of the Accra East Region, as scores of workers had gathered on the premises in solidarity with their national leadership.
Public interest
The Regional Divisional Chairman of Accra West, Mr Daniel Yartey, explained that the decision to go along that path was in the interest of posterity, saying that it took a good and effective management regime to transform the power sector, not privatisation.
“The concession is not in our favour as workers. We do not know the road map to the entire process and so we want the government to come out and do better engagement with our leadership in the interest of the country,” he said.
He observed that in other parts of the world where concession had been done, it had been on a pilot basis, saying he could not understand why, in Ghana, it was to be done in its entirety.
Elsewhere
From Tema, Della Russel Ocloo reports that work at all eight district offices within the Tema Region of the company came to a standstill for three hours as members of the PUWU joined their colleagues in protest over the planned privatisation of the ECG by the government.
The workers at the Tema Regional Office of the ECG, in red clothes, turned the frontage of the office into a dance arena.
They held placards with inscriptions such as: “Private sector participation; Where is Aqua Vittens Rand of South Africa, Mr President,” “Is it the MCA money or the livelihoods and jobs of Ghanaians”? “We believe the ECG is for Ghanaians, not the NDC”, “A vote for NDC means a vote for the ECG and its staff”, among other issues.
The National Secretary of the JUSU of PUWU, Mr Frank Adjetey Badu, speaking to the media in Tema, wondered why the government would want to trade ECG’s assets, which stood at over $6 billion as of 2014, for a meagre $498.2 million for a 25-year period in the name of addressing inefficiencies in the company’s operations.
He said the public ought to be concerned about the decision to entrust the management and operations of the ECG into private hands.
Samuel Kyei-Boateng reports from Akyem Oda that the entire employees of the ECG in the Akyem Oda District office yesterday started their three-day peaceful demonstration, clad in red attire, carrying placards and singing amidst drumming and dancing.
They threatened to campaign against the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the December 7, 2016 general election if the decision to privatise the ECG was not reversed immediately.
The demonstrators called on the government to pay the ECG the huge debt it owed the company to enable it to perform its functions efficiently to the satisfaction of all Ghanaians.
Donald Ato Dapatem reports from Kumasi that ECG customers in Kumasi and its environs were left stranded during the three-hour strike by the staff to press home their demand on the government to reverse the decision to offer the company on concession.
Some of the workers could be seen in their red armbands dancing. The half day, 8 a.m. to 12 noon, sit-down strike was the decision of the National Executive Committee of the ECG Senior Staff Association, with the support of the PUWU.
As early as 7 a.m., customers from various areas in Kumasi had, as usual, converged on the offices of the company, especially the Danyame and the Adum branches, but were disappointed that they were not served by the workers.
Most of the customers had gone there to buy electricity credits, replace faulty meters, get new ones, get connection to their residences and workplaces, seek explanation to the high tariffs and also complain about some faulty services.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Chairman of the Ashanti Regional Senior Staff Association of the ECG, Mr Bismark Adomah, wondered why the government could give out ECG on concession for 25 years for just about $500 million, while the assets of the ECG in the Ashanti Region alone were more than the $500 million.
While some of the customers sympathised with the ECG workers that the company should not be placed on concession, others believed that customers should not be made to suffer when the staff had a problem with their employers.
From Takoradi, Dotsey Koblah Aklorbortu reports that about 8 a.m. members of staff of the company joined their colleagues across the country to protest against the proposed involvement of a private entity in the operations of the company.
Every activity at the regional office in Takoradi came to a standstill while the workers drummed and danced in protest.
About 11 a.m., the workers returned to their offices, as promised.
Workers of the ECG in Ho, with red bands on their arms and foreheads, suspended work for three hours from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., Mary Anane reports.
Carrying placards with inscriptions such as: ‘Leave ECG alone’, ‘Sale of ECG is a bad deal’, ‘Government, pay debt for effective management of ECG’ the workers demonstrated within the premises of the Volta Regional office to show their displeasure over the concession deal.
In an interview, the Regional Chairman of the ECG workers union, Mr Francis Dogbatse, questioned the rationale behind the deal, arguing that it would only compound the challenges customers were already facing.
