Rein in Krobo youth for constant power!

It is no longer rumours that mortuaries in the Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo Municipalities, with the exception of that of the St. Martin de Porres Hospital at Agormanya, cannot handle the unbudgeted expenses to run generators to keep bodies fresh and so have asked families having the bodies of loved ones in their facilities to come for them.

Apart from the Muslim community, which buries the dead moments after the demise or as soon as practicable, the rest of the Ghanaian society, including Christians, are fond of delaying the burial and the funeral of the departed for various reasons.

However, whether Muslim, Christian or traditional believers, the whole of the Ghanaian society gives special respects to the dead, particularly treating them with dignity prior to their burial.

Therefore, what is happening in the Krobo land should be of great concern to the whole nation but without overlooking what has caused this.

For some years now, there has been a raging impasse between some people of the Krobo land, particularly the youth, and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) over payment of bills by the people.

The misunderstanding started with complaints from the people that the power provider was ‘stealing’ from the Krobos through over-billing.

Some of the people even refuse complete payment of bills, claiming there is a document that exempts Krobos from paying electricity bills after 50 years of the construction of the Akosombo dam funded by the World Bank, the UK and the United States from 1961 till its completion in 1965.

Others wanted outstanding bills to be forgiven.

The misunderstanding caused the May 2017 rampage and November 2021 demonstration against the ECG after the entire Krobo area was denied power.

Some people did illegal connections, including restoring their disconnected lines.

In November last year, the youth were mad at a former   Member of Parliament for the Lower Manya Krobo Constituency, Michael Teye Nyaunu, for dismissing claims of an existing document that exempts Krobos from paying electricity bills.

At certain points security personnel had to be deployed to the area to restore sanity.

The ECG thinks pre-paid meters can help resolve the impasse but the youth do not understand.

Therefore, the power provider has switched off  feeders supplying power to Yilo and Manya Krobo municipalities since July 27, 2022, over assaults on its workers and tempering of its transformers by some unscrupulous residents resisting the installation of the pre-paid meters.

The Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, is said to have contacted traditional leaders of the Krobo people to meet with ECG officials to reach agreement on the restoration of power to their land.

The Ghanaian Times thinks the youth of the Krobo land perpetrating and perpetuating the power problems must be reined in by any means possible, including legal sanctions.

This is because their misconduct is not triggering power cuts not only to households but also businesses, which can lead to loss of jobs, which would worsen unemployment in the country.

The Krobo youth case against the ECG must be a serious wake-up call to all the leaders of the country – political, corporate, traditional and religious – to always find means to nip all misbehaviour in the bud. 

Rein in Krobo youth for constant power!

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