Hundreds of the angry residents of Somanya in the Eastern Region, besieged the offices of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to demonstrate over what they describe as over-billing.
The residents had poured out onto the street and blocked major roads in the town to demonstrate their anger over the development.
Citi News gathered that demonstration was triggered on Friday morning after some ECG staff came round to disconnect some customers for non-payment of their bills.
Philip Tetteh Padi the president of Kloma Gbi, a pressure group that operates in the community told Citi News that the ECG has been adamant in addressing the problem in spite of numerous complaints.
“The whole Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo communities have rallied round the ECG office in Somanya because of the huge light bills that are being given to the community. We complain several times and nothing seem to be happening,” he said.
Mr. Padi said he found it ridiculous he had been billed GHs45,000.00 by the ECG for power consumed in his home when he was previously billed GHs100.
He noted that although the demonstration was peaceful, the ECG has locked its gate and deployed security personnel to man the gate and prevent demonstrators from coming in.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of Tema area of ECG under whose jurisdiction Somanya falls, Theresah Osabutey says that the ECG has no hand on the challenge the residents are facing but rather the VRA will be the appropriate body company to address it.
“What we know is that they were being billed by VRA, and the meters they were using, at a point, they [VRA] came around to replace the meters and when they replaced the meters the customers started complaining that they are paying more than they used to pay,” she said.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana