The utility regulator on Monday, March 5, 2018, announced that it has reduced electricity tariffs between 10 and 30 percent for the various categories of consumers.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Y2lzidN2Spjuk2an3dyrAUN9F0XTUqzS”]The development also followed the completion of exhaustive consultations with the various stakeholders comprising utility providers, consumers and industry analysts.

Commenting on the latest directive, the Public Relations Officer of the Northern Electricity Development Company (NEDCo), Alhassan Ababa, told Citi Business News his outfit will comply albeit contrary to their expectations.

NEDCo, for instance put forward a proposal seeking about 200 percent rise in tariff, compared to the figure approved by the PURC in 2015.

Though Mr. Ababa explains that the latest move might affect their initial operational plan,they will work with it in the interim.

“We feel very strongly that if we had received what we asked for, it would have made our work very easier and enabled us serve our customers much better. But these notwithstanding, the PURC is just not considering our position by rather considering all factors that come into play in the generation and distribution of electricity and they feel that some reduction between 10 and 30 percent is what we should get now and hence they have approved that, we will work with it and see how it will go,” he stated.

He was however hopeful that the decision to maintain the energy service charges for the utility companies should cushion them for some time.

The energy service comprises charges that are imposed to facilitate the response time, resolution of complaints, among others.

“The energy production charges I want to believe comprises what goes into the production, transmission and distribution and those components the PURC considers that something could be done and that have been effected.”

PURC justifies reduction in tariffs

The Executive Secretary of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Maame Dufie Ofori,justified the basis for the reduction.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Madam Dufie Ofori attributed the decision to a decline in the key components that form the basis for the tariffs.

“Gas price has come down; at the time they were asking for proposals, the hydro allocation was only 60 percent. Now it is 65 percent which means it is a cheaper source of generation. Because of the renegotiated power purchase agreement, their capacity charges have gone down ranging between 20 to 25 percent and also their losses too have been reviewed,” she stated.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post NEDCo, others to comply with tariff reduction amidst discontent appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The optimism comes despite proposals for an increase in utility tariffs by service providers.

This also follows a stakeholders’ forum ahead of the announcement of new tariffs by the end of this month.

The average 14 percent reduction in the cost of electricity for businesses is expected to take effect with the announcement of new electricity tariffs by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC).

But the proposals put forward by the utility service providers point to an increase in tariff.

The requests from the ECG, GRIDCo and the Northern Electricity Development Company (NEDCo) ranged between 31 and 200 percent.

For the utility service providers, the need to improve efficiency warrants the proposed increases.

The Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited, Ing. Dr. Clifford A. Braimah justified his outfit’s proposals.

“We are paying from our operation cost because it is take or pay; but as we have shut the desalination plant, we are saving the cost of electricity which is about 3 million cedis a month,” he said.

Minority doubts reduction

The Minority Spokesperson on Mines and Energy Committee in Parliament, Adam Mutawakilu believes that the earlier announcement by the Executive is a possible affront to the independence of the PURC.

He however maintains that the reduction could only be effective if it is reflected in the price calculations of the power producing companies such as VRA and Bui Power Authority.

“What I have today is transmission and distribution and they are all geared upwards; if I get the generation figures and they are also geared that way, then I can make a concrete informed decision and maybe communicate that what we are seeing would point to an increase,” he told Citi Business News.

Gov’t hopeful of reduction

Meanwhile a highly optimistic Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi tells Citi Business News the expected reduction in the cost of gas to businesses should translate into a reduction in the cost of power.

“If the savings that government is working on doesn’t happen, then the utility service providers will go ahead with the provision of the services based on their proposed figures. But if what government is recommending to the PURC becomes fruitful, then the cost of production of power will come down and that will affect all the utility service providers,” he asserted.

The Technical Committee Chairman of the PURC, Ishmael Egyekumhene is however hopeful of realistic tariffs by the end of February 2018.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t reaffirms reduced tariffs despite high proposals appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The utility companies, who are currently meeting the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) in a Joint Consultative forum in Accra, want tariffs increased by about 200 percent.

Speaking to Citi Business News, the Chairman of the Technical Committee of the PURC, Ishmael Egyekumhene, said the situation needs careful assessment as government has already promised a reduction in electricity tariff.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Zs97Be90KMl0nEm6B8CXTSWHqHl8V1pW”]“All of them are asking for significant increases in the tariffs. That even makes our work more difficult because already the Executive [President] has actually gone ahead to announce some tariff reduction. I’m sure you just listened to the NEDCo presentation; the figure they are asking for translates to about 200% increases in what was approved for them in 2015. So all of them are pointing upwards, they are asking for more money, but it’s our responsibility to start interrogating all the cost centres because at the end of the day, they have what they call, revenue requirements which goes into how much money they need to be able to run the systems.”

Mr. Egyekumhene said cost is a major factor in considering the total revenue requirements.

“We are looking critically at the cost right from generation to transmission and distribution. If we are only to base the analysis on exchange rate and inflation, there is every justification for the tariffs to go up,” he added.

Gov’t reduces electricity tariff by 14% for non-residential users

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had on January 15, 2018, announced an average of 14% reduction in electricity tariffs for non-residential users in the country with effect from January 2018.

“From January this year, the non-residential tariff rate, which is the rate which includes all of you here, is being reduced by an average of 14%. For barbers, it is being reduced by 18%; for hairdressers and beauticians, 15.7%, and for tailors, 9.8%,” he added.

Government had earlier recommended to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to reduce electricity tariffs in the country.

It promised to reduce electricity tariffs by between 13 and 21 percent for residential consumers and industry respectively.

The PURC’s meeting with stakeholders in the sector was to among other things negotiate and determine a reduction in tariffs for businesses.

Gov’t can’t recommend reduction in power tariffs -Wereko-Brobby

Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, was one of the people who accused government of trying to usurp the mandate of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), by announcing a reduction in electricity tariffs.

According to him, government could make proposals to the regulatory body about a possible reduction in the tariffs, citing possible changes in the cost of production.

He added however that, the final say on any adjustment of the tariffs should come from the PURC devoid of any pressure from the government.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Pius Eduku Amihere /citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Utility service providers demand 200% increase in tariffs appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Robert Jackson disclosed this when he paid a courtesy call on the Upper East Regional Minister, Rockson Bukhari in Bolgatanga.

“We are also working with Northern Electricity Distribution Company(NEDco) on the energy situation, although NEDco has been doing well, we will invest about six million dollars in NEDco over the next few years, to see how that investment will work and how it will impact that region,” he said.

[contextly_sidebar id=”K4Qr60SQ5kfYcJSEXvRglXFfIFsQqnS7″]This package is to enhance the operations of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company(NEDco), to make the provision of electricity more efficient and diversified in Northern Ghana.

The Ambassador also added that, the US government is also supporting the retooling of Ghana’s security agencies in readiness to combat terrorism.

There was a total blackout in the Tamale Metropolis in the latter part of 2017, following an inferno that gutted 11 panels of the VRA/NEDco substation at Choggu Hilltop.

NEDco-VRA at the time also served notice that the company is on the verge of collapse largely due to power theft.

The company’s Corporate Communications Director, Maxwell Kotoka, brought this to the fore at a news conference in Tamale where he disclosed that 45 percent of power theft was recorded in the Tamale area.

Stealing of power has become an established practice in the Northern Region for which reason authorities of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDco), have served notice to install prepaid meters for all its customers.

Records showed that, as of April to June 2014 ending, NEDco lost eight GHC800, 000 as a result of illegal connections and non-payment of electricity bills in the Tamale Metro area alone.

NEDco’s Director of Services, David Adomako-Mensah at a media briefing in Tamale, disclosed that 426 illegal power thieves were arrested for various offences.

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By: Farida Yusif&Fred Awuni/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post US to invest $60m into energy sector appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Almost the entire Tamale Metropolis was plunged into total darkness on Monday, November 20,2017,  following an inferno that gutted a portion of the substation at Choggu Hilltop.

The Management of VRA/NEDco on Friday, November 24, 2017, fully restored power to the Tamale Metropolis.

The VRA/NEDco Manager in charge of Corporate Communications, Maxwell Kotoka, in a statement copied citifmonline.com, stated that, “It would be recalled that in the evening of Monday, November 20, 2017, fire razed critical equipment through which nearly all domestic and commercial consumers, were being served electric power in the metropolis, thereby plunging nearly the entire township into darkness.”

“Since then, the Management and Staff of NEDCo, working with tremendous support and cooperation from GRIDCo, the Hon Minister of Energy, the Hon. Northern Regional Minister, The Hon. Minister for Roads and Highways, The Ghana Police Service, The Department of Roads and Highways, Various local contractors, the Media and of course, the Chiefs and good people of Tamale have succeeded in restoring power to all the affected consumers.”

“It must however be re-iterated that, all the restorations so far are temporary ones, whilst we take steps to fully investigate the cause of the fire with the view to avoiding a future recurrence, and to replace the burnt equipment. This will take some reasonable time so we would have to make do with the temporary arrangements for a while.”

Maxwell Kotoka reaffirmed management’s commitment to permanently fix the problem as Christmas approaches.

“We assure the public that as usual, we shall continue to do our best in rising to the challenges that may come up. In this regard, we still urge the public to continue to be patient, tolerant and cooperative.”

“Meanwhile, the fenced space at the frontage of the GRIDCo Sub-station, off the Choggu-Water Works Road, has been converted into the distribution hub centre for Tamale, so it has been designated a security zone where entry and/or loitering is strictly prohibited. The General Public is accordingly advised not to trespass for their own interest and safety.”

He appreciated the tremendous efforts of individuals and institutions that supported VRA/NEDco during the difficult times saying, “We wish to deeply acknowledge and tremendously thank all who have supported us in diverse ways for their respective roles without which the stop-gap works could not have been done in such a record time. We hope to be able to continue to count on you in these trying times and beyond.”

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By: Abdul Karm Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post VRA/NEDco finally restores power in Tamale Metropolis        appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Ibrahim Alhassan Gawsu, was additionally ordered to refund the monies collected from the victims, and to pay compensation of GHȼ4,000.00 to the Northern Electrification Distribution Company (NEDCo), a subsidiary of the Volta River Authority (VRA).

[contextly_sidebar id=”KpVrUNXroVEADOHNz72s0KZ0nC9ljuTC”]He would in default serve 10 years in jail.

The court, presided over by Ms. Lydia Osei Marfo, gave the punishment after he pleaded guilty to defrauding by false pretence.

Police Chief Inspector Daniel Gbedzinu, said the convict had been contracted by the company two years ago to take electricity meter readings in houses in the Ejura Municipality for calculation of monthly bills.

Between 2015 and 2016, he convinced 10 property owners that he could help supply power to their property and succeeded in collecting from them cash totaling GHȼ4,165.84.

The convict, however failed to deliver on his word, and the matter was brought to the notice of the company.

When confronted by the Municipal NEDCo Officer, he confessed to taking the money, and he was subsequently handed over to the police.

–

Source: GNA

The post Meter reader fined GHȼ18,000 for duping property owners appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

There was a total blackout in the Metropolis following an inferno that gutted 11 panels of the VRA/NEDco substation at Choggu Hilltop.

[contextly_sidebar id=”X5AmG93HzIpNHQPXjscpxuNE2Za3iS2R”]The VRA/NEDco Communications Director, Maxwell Kotoka at a media briefing on Tuesday, said apart from critical installations including the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), the Tamale Airport and the Tamale Teaching Hospital, there is power interruption in the entire Metropolis.

According to him, management considers limited load management as an option because there are no definite timelines to fixing the problem.

“Among others, management has decided to loop some feeders that are close to the currently running lines to the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana Water Company and the Tamale Airport.”

“If it becomes necessary and we find it practicable, we may have to resort to some limited load management. If that would happen, we would not hesitate to share with you the structure or schedule with which it would be run.”

Maxwell Kotoka said the 11 breakers serving the Tamale Township on the 11 kv, were burnt to ashes for which VRA/NEDco will be unable to serve the whole of the Tamale Metropolis particularly domestic consumers.

“In all this, we would want to urge restraint and a careful management of expectations, and we assure the general public to understand us and cooperate with us in these difficult times.”

“A number of breakers are being brought in from Techiman and Wenchi to be used as provisional routes of supply to other areas especially around the centre of town. As alluded to earlier, it is not possible for all affected customers to have power restored to them at the same time. Similarly, some customers may have to suffer some load management experiences, whilst some may not be able to benefit from the short-term remedies at all.”

“We wish to put to it on record that we are leaving no stone unturned to restore power as soon as practicable.”

Maxwell Kotoka apologized to the affected customers for the inconvenience caused.

“It is our humble appeal to the general public to be patient and exercise maximum restraint, whilst we continue to do our utmost best to restore power to all.”

He commended the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ghana Police Service, and all well-wishers supporting the VRA-NEDco during these difficult times.

Meanwhile, some dissatisfied customers of the VRA-NEDco are livid over the explanations given.

Some of them in a Citi News interview expressed worry about perishable food products stored in deep freezers coupled with the warm climatic condition.

They implored the VRA-NEDco to immediately fix the problem.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post VRA/NEDco to ration power in Tamale due to faulty panels appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

NEDCo had earlier disclosed that it is on the verge of collapse because of power theft.

The company’s Corporate Communications Director, Maxwell Kotoka noted that, they recorded 45% of power theft within their catchment area in the Tamale Metropolis alone.

[contextly_sidebar id=”xnSfZQiAFLAh9Fjhjcu8m3H3cTg1Huce”]Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, Mr. Kotoka said customers who use prepaid meters have a higher motivation to steal power as compared to those on postpaid meters.

“Generally, we are looking at the prepaid users because the issue with the postpaid is that, there is no real motivation for them to steal the power. Reasons being that, as for the postpaid, you use [power], a bill is provided later then you pay. I must admit that there are instances where we are compelled to disconnect a defaulting customer but it is the prepaid meter customers who have that motivation because if they don’t have enough credits or units then they tamper with the power. Basically, they find disingenuous ways of outsmarting the meters,” he added.

“The fact that the postpaid customer does not have the motivation to steal power doesn’t necessarily mean that we don’t have challenge there too, we do. When they owe so much and they are not paying, that also affects the finances and the possible growth of the company,” he added.

Many have opined that, the panacea to solving power theft in in Ghana that usually affects revenue of companies within Ghana’s power distribution chain was migrating postpaid customers onto prepaid meters.

But Mr. Kotaka explained that the only way they could go around it was constant monitoring and having a legal backing to prosecute offenders.

“Prepaid customers have the motivation to steal power but there are certain measures if put in place can take care of that. For instance if there are constant monitoring which we are bound to do coupled with the necessary judicial structure to prosecute offenders effectively and to get or secure the required conviction that could serve as a deterrent, why not, we are on a winning path,” the communications director stated.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Prepaid meters not panacea to power theft – NEDCo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The company’s Corporate Communications Director, Maxwell Kotoka brought this to the fore at a news conference in Tamale where he disclosed that 45 percent of power theft was recorded in the Tamale Metropolitan Area alone.

He cited Aboabo, Zogbeli, Lamakara, Changli, Gumbihini and Dohin Naayili as some of the identified hotspots where power theft is widespread.

[contextly_sidebar id=”f9up5cAGJWqzXgStUDlN4nyqklg9oCAg”]According to him, NEDco-VRA staff safety is in jeopardy because a significant number of notorious defaulting customers continued to victimize staff on the line of duty.

“Defaulting customers continue to ignore Court summons but be rest assured that we will continue to intensify vigorous monitoring and disconnection exercises without prior announcements,” he warned.

Below is the press statement.

PRESS BRIEFING BY NEDCO ON THE EVENTS LEADING TO DAYS OF UNRESOLVED POWER SUPPLY INTERRUPTIONS AT DOHINAAYILI, A SUBURB OF TAMALE – TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2017 AT THE CONFERENCE ROOM OF THE NORTHERN AREA.

Distinguished Members of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Afternoon to you all. On behalf of the Management and Staff of Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), we wish to welcome you all to this briefing and to immensely thank you for responding to our invitation at such a short notice.

Over the past few days, NEDCo has received some significant reportage as well as a fairly massive media attention and commentary. Ladies and Gentlemen, we deem it fit to brief you formally on the events leading to this, how the impasse was resolved and to use the occasion to advise all going forward.

ANTECEDENTS

In the recent past, NEDCo staff have suffered a myriad of worrying cases of assault, threat to life, intimidation, physical hindrance and harassment in the course of discharging their legitimate duties as responsible civil servants. These duties include installation of Pre-Paid Meters (PPMs), monitoring of PPMs, disconnection of defaulting customers and direction of service of court summons.

Sadly, a significant number of our customers abhor and can simply not tolerate these actions because once they are carried out successfully, their chances of either stealing power from NEDCo or perpetuating their indebtedness to NEDCo becomes bleak. For this reason, we have been assaulted, threatened, intimidated, physically hindered and/or harassed in the past in various suburbs of Tamale.

These include Aboaba, Zogbeli, Lamakara, Changli, Gumbihini to mention a few. This impunity kept growing in leaps and bounds as even on one occasion, it led to a sit-down strike by staff who accused Management of not protecting them. On that occasion, the matter was as usual, reported to the Police who did their bit by charging the suspects only for them to refuse to show up in court.

Matters got to a head when the police, in an attempt to effect the Bench Warrant that was issued against them, were pelted away from the community. Eventually, Management had to use alternative means to resolve the impasse and to get staff to rescind their decision to strike and get back to work. Ladies and Gentlemen, perhaps, the most painful part of all these is that before we are humiliated, the communities are quick to remind us of how we were “stopped” or “disciplined” in other communities; adding that they would even do more.

Distinguished members of the Media, this is the antecedent of the recent events at Dohinaayili; we have been compelled to outline all these so as to properly posit the Dohinaayili incident.

DOHINAAYILI INCIDENT

In the forenoon of Wednesday, July 05 2017, a NEDCo Team was in Dohinaayili with a Court Bailiff directing service of court summons to some residents who had been caught by NEDCo in various acts of illegal connections and power theft. Ordinarily, the Bailiff should have done the service alone but because of the gawky house numbering system, NEDCo had to accompany the Bailiff. It must therefore be noted that NEDCo was ONLY assisting the court official to execute an order of the Court, the fountain of Law and Order in our society.

After an hour or so of working, the NEDCo Team (including the Bailiff) had moved significantly away from the official NEDCo-branded vehicle that conveyed them to the community. At this point, a group of young men wielding clubs, machetes, sticks, metal bars, catapults and wooden planks with nails perforated through them chanting antagonistic tunes and threats moved towards the NEDCo vehicle ostensibly, in search of the NEDCo Team.

As the NEDCo Team was not immediately in sight, the charged youth deflated three of the four tyres of the NEDCo vehicle thereby demobilizing the vehicle and significantly denying the Team any real chances of retreat or even escape. Having succeeded in this, the youth then went into the community scouting for the NEDCo Team; from the loud chants of the youth, our Team sensed danger so they kept moving away from the din till they could no more.

The youth caught up with them and molested the Team Leader, heckling him by the collar of his shirt. Fortunately, our Team escaped by rushing into some tri-cycles that were passing by as some on-lookers sought to know from the youth what the matter was. As our Team escaped, the youth warned that they would not be lucky next time as there would be bloodshed.

While the Bailiff went to report to the Court, the NEDCo staff came to report the incident to Management which directed that the matter be reported to Police immediately. It had to take armed police escort for NEDCo to move a vulcanizer to the demobilized vehicle to recover it. Later that day, a number of faults were reported to the NEDCo office which faults included one from Dohinaayili (others include one each from Dungu UDS Campus, Police Barracks Primary School and Ministry of Agriculture). All the other faults were fixed that same day but the one at Dohinaayili could not be attended to as our staff argued that given the events of the day coupled with the threats of bloodshed that were issued, they did not feel safe enough to go back into the community for whatever reason. Management also had its hands tied as it lacked the moral courage to compel them to go back into that same hostile community to address a fault, especially bearing in mind the recent dastardly mob actions in other parts of the country. The situation persisted as NEDCo was looking for assurances of unqualified and unequivocal safety and security for its staff.

NAMING AND SHAMING

Ladies and Gentlemen, perhaps, this is the most opportune time to delve into how much money and which customers were involved in the illegal connections in Dohinaayili. Management has decided that going forward, NEDCo will add “naming and shaming” to the tools available to her for fighting illegal connections. Under the circumstances, Dohinaayili has offered itself as a very fine starting point. Accordingly, below are the names and their various estimated stolen power in cedis:

Ladies and gentlemen, if only 24 customers could together steal power worth more than GH₵75,000.00, then the following legitimate questions arise:

Ø  What does it mean to well-meaning members of the public who honestly and decently buy power?

Ø  What is the fate and future of NEDCo?

Ø  What is the future of electricity distribution in the operational area of NEDCo?

Ø  If nothing is practically done about this situation, can the Management of NEDCo justifiably continue to be in office?

At this point, we believe that there is no one still in doubt as to why NEDCo must be firm, resolute, consistent, vigorous, ruthless and unrelenting in the war against power theft. This is why we cannot and should not be intimidated and/or dissuaded from going after the power thieves. “Naming and shaming” as an additional tool has just begun.

RESOLUTION

Meanwhile, from the day after the fault was reported, various opinion leaders from the community including chiefs and politicians like the Assembly man of the electoral area began to engage NEDCo on the possibility of reaching an amicable solution as they wanted the fault fixed for them; the immense role of the Metropolitan Police Command in this cannot be over-emphasized.

Through these talks, the following conditions were set:

Ø  That, the opinion leaders will hold public fora within the community and sensitize residents on the impropriety of all forms of conduct that prevent NEDCo from undertaking its lawful duties within the community at all times.

Ø  That, the opinion leaders will ensure that the Bailiff is amply assisted to deliver the relevant summons to the appropriate recipients in the Dohinaayili community

Ø  That, the opinion leaders should guarantee that the unruly youth of the area would be reined in subsequently

Ø  That, the opinion leaders would after all these, guarantee NEDCo the safety and security of her staff working within Dohinaayili

Ø  That, the opinion leaders will co-operate with the Police in the latter’s investigation of the formal complaint lodged by NEDCo.

Generally, these conditions have been largely met and we believe that the prosecution of the power theft suspects would continue unabated. Upon reviewing the situation, the Management of NEDCo consulted with key stakeholders including staff and concluded that it was fairly safe to send staff back into the community. Consequently, the fault was fixed and power restored to the affected community at or around 1700 Hours GMT on Monday, July 10, 2017.

APOLOGY

We wish to render an unqualified apology to well-meaning, decent and tariff-paying residents who fell victim to the effects of our inability to fix the fault as timeously as we are wont to doing; it was never intended to inconvenience you. We simply had to protect the lives of our staff. Once more, accept our apologies.

WAY FORWARD

Ladies and Gentlemen, much as we are all happy that this impasse has seen a peaceful resolution, we would want to use it to sound a very deafening final CAUTION AND ADVICE to ALL communities that have displayed such impunity against us in the past as well as those who may be intending to do so going into the future that we shall no more risk our lives and safety to work for the comfort of communities where we are endangered or our safety is jeopardised. Electricity, like any other commodity must be paid for once it is acquired or used. Ours as distributors is to make electricity available in its right quantity and quality and as consumers, once you use or acquire the electricity, you MUST PAY for it so it simply cannot be that any legitimate move by NEDCo to claim monies owed it or power stolen from it is seen as harassment.

Going forward, we intend to intensify our checks and monitoring very rigorously for which reason announcements have been running for the past month or so to prepare our customers. Without any further notice, we shall visit you so do that which is honourable and expected of you as a well-meaning citizen so that together we can save NEDCo from collapse and be able to pass it on to future generations as we inherited it from our forebears.

In doing this, we hope to have as allies, not only the opinion leaders of Dohinaayili but opinion leaders throughout the operational area.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Distinguished members of the Media, lastly, permit us to acknowledge and thank the general public, the Regional and Metropolitan Police Command, the Command of 6Bn, staff of NEDCo, the Bailiffs involved, the opinion leaders of Dohinaayili and of course you, the Media for the wonderful show of understanding and support in these difficult times. We hope to continue counting on you all for, as we strengthen NEDCo, we strengthen the gateway for industrial development in the operational area. Thank you. God bless us all.

Maxwell K. Kotoka

Corporate Communications Manager

NEDco-VRA

By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post NEDco records 45% of power theft in Tamale appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The company’s Corporate Communications Director, Maxwell Kotoka brought this to the fore at a news conference in Tamale where he disclosed that 45 percent of power theft was recorded in the Tamale Metropolitan Area.

He cited Aboabo, Zogbeli, Lamakara, Changli, Gumbihini and Dohin Naayili as some of the identified hotspots where power theft is widespread.

[contextly_sidebar id=”f9up5cAGJWqzXgStUDlN4nyqklg9oCAg”]According to him, NEDco-VRA staff safety is in jeopardy because a significant number of notorious defaulting customers continued to victimize staff on the line of duty.

“Defaulting customers continue to ignore Court summons but be rest assured that we will continue to intensify vigorous monitoring and disconnection exercises without prior announcements,” he warned.

Below is the press statement.

PRESS BRIEFING BY NEDCO ON THE EVENTS LEADING TO DAYS OF UNRESOLVED POWER SUPPLY INTERRUPTIONS AT DOHINAAYILI, A SUBURB OF TAMALE – TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2017 AT THE CONFERENCE ROOM OF THE NORTHERN AREA.

Distinguished Members of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Afternoon to you all. On behalf of the Management and Staff of Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), we wish to welcome you all to this briefing and to immensely thank you for responding to our invitation at such a short notice.

Over the past few days, NEDCo has received some significant reportage as well as a fairly massive media attention and commentary. Ladies and Gentlemen, we deem it fit to brief you formally on the events leading to this, how the impasse was resolved and to use the occasion to advise all going forward.

ANTECEDENTS

In the recent past, NEDCo staff have suffered a myriad of worrying cases of assault, threat to life, intimidation, physical hindrance and harassment in the course of discharging their legitimate duties as responsible civil servants. These duties include installation of Pre-Paid Meters (PPMs), monitoring of PPMs, disconnection of defaulting customers and direction of service of court summons.

Sadly, a significant number of our customers abhor and can simply not tolerate these actions because once they are carried out successfully, their chances of either stealing power from NEDCo or perpetuating their indebtedness to NEDCo becomes bleak. For this reason, we have been assaulted, threatened, intimidated, physically hindered and/or harassed in the past in various suburbs of Tamale.

These include Aboaba, Zogbeli, Lamakara, Changli, Gumbihini to mention a few. This impunity kept growing in leaps and bounds as even on one occasion, it led to a sit-down strike by staff who accused Management of not protecting them. On that occasion, the matter was as usual, reported to the Police who did their bit by charging the suspects only for them to refuse to show up in court.

Matters got to a head when the police, in an attempt to effect the Bench Warrant that was issued against them, were pelted away from the community. Eventually, Management had to use alternative means to resolve the impasse and to get staff to rescind their decision to strike and get back to work. Ladies and Gentlemen, perhaps, the most painful part of all these is that before we are humiliated, the communities are quick to remind us of how we were “stopped” or “disciplined” in other communities; adding that they would even do more.

Distinguished members of the Media, this is the antecedent of the recent events at Dohinaayili; we have been compelled to outline all these so as to properly posit the Dohinaayili incident.

DOHINAAYILI INCIDENT

In the forenoon of Wednesday, July 05 2017, a NEDCo Team was in Dohinaayili with a Court Bailiff directing service of court summons to some residents who had been caught by NEDCo in various acts of illegal connections and power theft. Ordinarily, the Bailiff should have done the service alone but because of the gawky house numbering system, NEDCo had to accompany the Bailiff. It must therefore be noted that NEDCo was ONLY assisting the court official to execute an order of the Court, the fountain of Law and Order in our society.

After an hour or so of working, the NEDCo Team (including the Bailiff) had moved significantly away from the official NEDCo-branded vehicle that conveyed them to the community. At this point, a group of young men wielding clubs, machetes, sticks, metal bars, catapults and wooden planks with nails perforated through them chanting antagonistic tunes and threats moved towards the NEDCo vehicle ostensibly, in search of the NEDCo Team.

As the NEDCo Team was not immediately in sight, the charged youth deflated three of the four tyres of the NEDCo vehicle thereby demobilizing the vehicle and significantly denying the Team any real chances of retreat or even escape. Having succeeded in this, the youth then went into the community scouting for the NEDCo Team; from the loud chants of the youth, our Team sensed danger so they kept moving away from the din till they could no more.

The youth caught up with them and molested the Team Leader, heckling him by the collar of his shirt. Fortunately, our Team escaped by rushing into some tri-cycles that were passing by as some on-lookers sought to know from the youth what the matter was. As our Team escaped, the youth warned that they would not be lucky next time as there would be bloodshed.

While the Bailiff went to report to the Court, the NEDCo staff came to report the incident to Management which directed that the matter be reported to Police immediately. It had to take armed police escort for NEDCo to move a vulcanizer to the demobilized vehicle to recover it. Later that day, a number of faults were reported to the NEDCo office which faults included one from Dohinaayili (others include one each from Dungu UDS Campus, Police Barracks Primary School and Ministry of Agriculture). All the other faults were fixed that same day but the one at Dohinaayili could not be attended to as our staff argued that given the events of the day coupled with the threats of bloodshed that were issued, they did not feel safe enough to go back into the community for whatever reason. Management also had its hands tied as it lacked the moral courage to compel them to go back into that same hostile community to address a fault, especially bearing in mind the recent dastardly mob actions in other parts of the country. The situation persisted as NEDCo was looking for assurances of unqualified and unequivocal safety and security for its staff.

NAMING AND SHAMING

Ladies and Gentlemen, perhaps, this is the most opportune time to delve into how much money and which customers were involved in the illegal connections in Dohinaayili. Management has decided that going forward, NEDCo will add “naming and shaming” to the tools available to her for fighting illegal connections. Under the circumstances, Dohinaayili has offered itself as a very fine starting point. Accordingly, below are the names and their various estimated stolen power in cedis:

Ladies and gentlemen, if only 24 customers could together steal power worth more than GH₵75,000.00, then the following legitimate questions arise:

Ø  What does it mean to well-meaning members of the public who honestly and decently buy power?

Ø  What is the fate and future of NEDCo?

Ø  What is the future of electricity distribution in the operational area of NEDCo?

Ø  If nothing is practically done about this situation, can the Management of NEDCo justifiably continue to be in office?

At this point, we believe that there is no one still in doubt as to why NEDCo must be firm, resolute, consistent, vigorous, ruthless and unrelenting in the war against power theft. This is why we cannot and should not be intimidated and/or dissuaded from going after the power thieves. “Naming and shaming” as an additional tool has just begun.

RESOLUTION

Meanwhile, from the day after the fault was reported, various opinion leaders from the community including chiefs and politicians like the Assembly man of the electoral area began to engage NEDCo on the possibility of reaching an amicable solution as they wanted the fault fixed for them; the immense role of the Metropolitan Police Command in this cannot be over-emphasized.

Through these talks, the following conditions were set:

Ø  That, the opinion leaders will hold public fora within the community and sensitize residents on the impropriety of all forms of conduct that prevent NEDCo from undertaking its lawful duties within the community at all times.

Ø  That, the opinion leaders will ensure that the Bailiff is amply assisted to deliver the relevant summons to the appropriate recipients in the Dohinaayili community

Ø  That, the opinion leaders should guarantee that the unruly youth of the area would be reined in subsequently

Ø  That, the opinion leaders would after all these, guarantee NEDCo the safety and security of her staff working within Dohinaayili

Ø  That, the opinion leaders will co-operate with the Police in the latter’s investigation of the formal complaint lodged by NEDCo.

Generally, these conditions have been largely met and we believe that the prosecution of the power theft suspects would continue unabated. Upon reviewing the situation, the Management of NEDCo consulted with key stakeholders including staff and concluded that it was fairly safe to send staff back into the community. Consequently, the fault was fixed and power restored to the affected community at or around 1700 Hours GMT on Monday, July 10, 2017.

APOLOGY

We wish to render an unqualified apology to well-meaning, decent and tariff-paying residents who fell victim to the effects of our inability to fix the fault as timeously as we are wont to doing; it was never intended to inconvenience you. We simply had to protect the lives of our staff. Once more, accept our apologies.

WAY FORWARD

Ladies and Gentlemen, much as we are all happy that this impasse has seen a peaceful resolution, we would want to use it to sound a very deafening final CAUTION AND ADVICE to ALL communities that have displayed such impunity against us in the past as well as those who may be intending to do so going into the future that we shall no more risk our lives and safety to work for the comfort of communities where we are endangered or our safety is jeopardised. Electricity, like any other commodity must be paid for once it is acquired or used. Ours as distributors is to make electricity available in its right quantity and quality and as consumers, once you use or acquire the electricity, you MUST PAY for it so it simply cannot be that any legitimate move by NEDCo to claim monies owed it or power stolen from it is seen as harassment.

Going forward, we intend to intensify our checks and monitoring very rigorously for which reason announcements have been running for the past month or so to prepare our customers. Without any further notice, we shall visit you so do that which is honourable and expected of you as a well-meaning citizen so that together we can save NEDCo from collapse and be able to pass it on to future generations as we inherited it from our forebears.

In doing this, we hope to have as allies, not only the opinion leaders of Dohinaayili but opinion leaders throughout the operational area.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Distinguished members of the Media, lastly, permit us to acknowledge and thank the general public, the Regional and Metropolitan Police Command, the Command of 6Bn, staff of NEDCo, the Bailiffs involved, the opinion leaders of Dohinaayili and of course you, the Media for the wonderful show of understanding and support in these difficult times. We hope to continue counting on you all for, as we strengthen NEDCo, we strengthen the gateway for industrial development in the operational area. Thank you. God bless us all.

Maxwell K. Kotoka

Corporate Communications Manager

NEDco-VRA

By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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