Teshie-Nungua residents angry at ECG

Residents of the Teshie-Nugua and McCarthy Hill suburbs in the Greater Accra region are accusing the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) of “unlawfully removing already installed pre-paid meters” from various homes and re-fixing them onto electricity poles along the streets.

The exercise, Today gathered, was not limited to Teshie-Nugua and McCarthy Hill but to areas including Dansoman and Sakaman.

According to the disgruntled residents, they were shocked to the marrow when some officials of ECG stormed their homes a couple of weeks ago and started removing their prepaid meters without alerting them.

“Hmm… see! ECG did not even consult us (residents) before removing the meters,” complained Mr. Kwame Ofori, a resident of McCarthy Hill, who spoke to Today and described the action by the electric-power provider as “unilateral.”

The residents have consequently threatened to embark on a demonstration if officials of ECG fail to repent of their actions and return the pre-paid meters to the original spot in their homes.

Other residents in the named suburbs who spoke to the paper accused the ECG of removing the pre-paid meters ostensibly to have the opportunity to rob them.

They alleged that their checks revealed that the removal and re-positioning of the meters would make their consumption of power go high.

“Our no is our no,” one of the residents affirmed. “We do not agree with the decision to remove our meters and fix them onto electricity poles along the streets. ECG should not underestimate their customers.”

Some of the residents also seized the opportunity to complain about the frequent rate at which they are already purchasing electricity credit and blamed the re-location of the pre-paid meters, adding that on the poles in the streets outside the houses the metres are open to tampering by unscrupulous persons.

The resident said they will soon petition President John Dramani Mahama and the Minister for Energy, Kofi Buah, to immediately intervene in the matter.

When Today contacted the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of EGC, Ms. Gloria Dua-Sekyi, she declined to comment on the issue.