The Electricity Company of Ghana has condemned the political mischief by some politicians and a section of the media suggesting that government has smuggled in pre-paid meters and installed them for its supporters at the blind side of the Company.
Those fueling the agenda to spite government are making the reference to a statement made by the Ashanti regional Public Relations Officer of the ECG who lamented about revenue losses as a result of the difficulty in tracing meters allocated to political influential people for distribution.
Mr Erasmus Kyere-Baido who was addressing a sensitization forum for MMDCEs said over 68,000 meters have been found in the system and he pleaded with stakeholders to support the company take stock to rope in badly needed revenue.
His comment has however been twisted and some politicians have gone to town with the concern accusing the Mahama Administration of running down the company aside the overbilling crisis.
But in a swift response, the ECG said the public should disregard the agenda. Public Relations Officer of the Company, Mr. William Boateng who spoke on OKAY FM said the misleading publications must be ignored.
He explained to Kwame Nkrumah TsiKese, host of the morning show programme that the issue is not limited to the NDC government. Mr. Boateng said the practice which involves MPs, Assembly members and top politicians who lobby the sector Ministry for support under the Self Help Electrification Programme, SHEP.
He noted that the SHEP projects are funded by donor countries and the then Energy Ministry, now Ministry of Power is in charge of the extension of electricity to deprived communities including the meters.
“The headline is misleading, not positive. It’s a wrong description. It started long ago and the sector Ministry is in charge. They only notify us to we identify the customers. Our mandate does not stop government support. What we do is to ensure the meters supplied by donor countries meet international standard. Our problem is the missing link. That’s all.” He added.
Mr Boateng said in most cases, the beneficiary communities get the power free for a period before billing starts. Delays result in losses.
“My colleague who they are linking the reports to didn’t say the meters are faulty. That’s the first point. If politicians make promises on campaign platforms, they lobby to get them fulfilled. That’s what happens under the SHEP initiative. They don’t go to buy their own meters, they get them from private contractors engaged by the Ministry. All we want is for the MMDCEs and politicians to appreciate our concern and help us capture the meters” Mr. Boateng clarified.
He however said one major challenge is the allocation or distribution of the meters to consumers in urban centers, a practice that defeats the policy initiative.
The Ashanti regional ECG PRO, Erasmus Keyi-Baidoo who also spoke on the programme corroborated the position of his boss.
“We first conduct a survey before all prepaid meters are mounted. They are also tested at out Laboratory for their efficiency. We provide them with geographical codes and account numbers so that we can track consumers and retrieve unpaid revenue. Anything short of this affects the company…," He said.
Mr. Kyei-Baidoo lamented about the challenge and hoped the MMDCEs will bring their influence and monitoring mechanisms to bear to stop the leakages.
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