Gov’t to probe Krobos/PDS clash, something is wrong somewhere – Energy Minister

The Minister for Energy, Mr John Peter Amewu says the government takes a serious view of the recent misunderstanding between the Power Distribution Service (PDS) and the people of Kroboland.

Speaking after visiting the family of a 23-year-old man, Thomas Patey who lost his life to stray bullets when police tried to disperse protesters at Manyakpongunor, a suburb of Krobo Odumasi, the Energy Minister said the government understood the concerns of the people of Krobo for challenging the wrongful way in which their electricity bills had been determined.

He said the government did not cede the Electricity Company of Ghana to a concessionaire for them to rip the people off, but to do things right and if they could not live up to expectation, they would be sent packing.

Mr Amewu said there were fundamental issues that led to the incident which needed to be investigated for the truth to come out once and for all, adding that he knew very well that the Krobos were well disciplined people and that something might have gone wrong to trigger the violence.

“I know Krobos for a very long time and they are not the type that foment trouble and therefore, for them to act that way means there is fundamentally something wrong that needs to be investigated and corrected”, he stressed.

The Energy Minister also visited the Konor (paramount chief) of Manya Krobo, Nene Sakite II. Also present were the divisional chief of Manya, Nene Okpatakpla Sasraku and the bereaved family.

Mr Amewu also cautioned against anybody seeking to make political capital out of the issue which he said has to do with the people in the entire Krobo area.
The minister expressed the government’s condolence to the bereaved family and assured them of support during their moment of grief.

Root cause
The Energy Minister said the government brought in PDS to correct the wrongs in the system, and not to create new problems, adding that if PDS cannot help to correct the wrongs in the system as expected of them then the government will advise itself.

"PDS is not independent and those who want to use the issue to play politics should stop because that will not help solve the problem. A committee will be set up to bring out the cause very soon,” he stated.

He, thanked, Nene Sakite for the role he played during the crisis and hoped he would continue until a lasting solution is found. He presented 500 streets lights to the traditional area.

Gratitude
Nene Sakite thanked the government and minister for coming down himself to see things for himself and assured him that he will continue to dialogue with stakeholders in search for an end to the impasse.

The head of the bereaved family, Mr Natey Patey, blamed the former ECG for accumulating the bills which brought about the problem.

He noted that even though his metre read 004 units to which he drew their attention for correction, the former ECG workers refused to correct the anomaly but managed to send him a huge bill of GH¢7,221.

MCE
The Municipal Chief Executive of Lower Manya Krobo, Mr Simon Kweku Tetteh who accompanied the minister, also assured that he was making efforts with other stakeholders to find an amicable solution to the problem.

He also appealed to the youth not to do anything untoward to mar the restored peace.

As part of the Energy Minister’s visit, areas such as Manyakpongunor and Yohe which were disconnected from the national electricity grid, were reconnected in the presence of the Minister.