The Labour Division of the Accra High Court has dismissed an application for interlocutory injunction by the leadership of the Public Utilities Workers Union (PUWU) praying the court to stop the privatisation of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The court, presided over by Justice Mrs Lorrenda Owusu, said the application failed based on the governing principle of balance of convenience.
Justice Mrs Owusu urged the parties to continue negotiations in order to reach an amicable agreement instead of washing their dirty linen in public.
The application by 1,001 workers of the ECG sought to stop the Millennium Challenge Compact II, which includes the concession of the company to a private entity.
The workers wanted the court to halt the process, pending the determination of their suit challenging it on the basis that the government had failed to conduct proper redundancy negotiations with them.
But Justice Mrs Owusu ruled that the Government of Ghana would suffer immense hardship if the application was granted and that the Compact was in force and contracts had been signed and therefore there would be irreparable damage to the government if the process was halted.
The court was, however, of the considered opinion that the workers would not suffer any hardship if the application was refused because they could be adequately compensated in the event that they win the substantive suit.
Power Compact
The Government of Ghana, on August 5, 2014, entered into an agreement with the United States of America (USA), acting through the Millennium Challenge Compact, to transform the power sector in Ghana.
The agreement became known as the Ghana Power Compact or simply Compact II and the Millennium Challenge Compact is expected to invest up to $498.2 million to transform Ghana’s power sector and stimulate private investments.
The implementation agency of the compact on behalf of the government is the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA).
According to the government, as part of the deal, the operations of the ECG have to be handed over to a private entity for a period of 20 years to ensure the transformation of the country’s sole power distributor.
Background
PUWU dragged ECG, the Attorney-General and MiDA to court on October 3, 2017 over the privatisation of ECG.
They have demanded severance packages for ECG workers because of the privatisation.
PUWU, in its suit, also sought a perpetual injunction to restrain the defendants, their assigns and privies from continuing with the Compact Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Millennium Challenge Corporation on August 5, 2014 for the reform of the electricity distribution sector of Ghana by, among other issues, appointing a concessionaire to take over the distribution of electricity from the ECG and related agreements.
PUWU had started agitations in this regard in September, expressing fears that their members will lose their jobs following the Power Compact signed with the United States of America under the Millennium Challenge Corporation Power Compact II programme.
They contended that discussions that went into negotiations for the sale of ECG did not factor in the declaration of redundancy, despite the content of Section 65 of the Labour Act.
Meanwhile the substantive case is still pending in court.
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