Residents of Manya Kpongwunor in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region, have embarked on a demonstration to protest against the installation of pre-paid meters by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), on Krobo land with military personnel.
According to the residents, their agitation comes to bear following the military deployment amid the ongoing operation which they described as causing fear and panic.
The demonstrators marched through the principal streets of Kpongunor, Nuaso, and Kpong streets, chanting war songs to express their displeasure about the entire exercise.
The ECG on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, commenced the installation of prepaid meters within the Krobo enclave accompanied by over 50 military officers.
The exercise follows the long-lasting impasse between the people of Krobo land with ECG over the installation of prepaid meters due to what they described as over-billing among others.
The impasse then led to several demonstrations and vandalism against ECG staff and other state institutions in Somanya leaving several people injured and two others shot dead by a stray bullet during one of the protests at Agormanya in Lower Manya Krobo.
Subsequently, a resolution by one pressure group calling itself the United Krobo Foundation (UKF) asked the people not to pay light bills anymore and also instructed the ECG to stop its operation in the area with threats. The situation led the power distribution firm to relocate to Juapong in the Volta Region.
But after several dialogues between the ECG, leaders of the Krobo bloc, the National Security, and PURC, the long-standing dispute seems to end soon with a consensus to install the prepaid meters.
The exercise which is underway has been designed for eight weeks, according to the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Tema District.
However, after 72 hours of the prepaid metering, residents at Manya Kpongwunor opposed the exercise and threatened to boycott it.
“Do military men work at the Electricity Company of Ghana, we will all see if the military are staff of the power distribution company. We have not committed any crime so why the presence of these military personnel.
“The prepaid they are introducing, we don’t want it, so we preferred the postpaid meter we are already using, and that’s why we are warning that if they wish, whatever would happen would happen,” a demonstrator threatened.
Another resident also added that after the police shot and claimed some lives, the ECG wants to impose on them the prepaid meters, something they noted would never happen under their watch.
Therefore, should the ECG continue to enforce the ‘prepaid meters’ to the people of Krobo’s, then they should expect the “unforeseen circumstance with retaliation.”
“Though, they have started the exercise from Kpong, what we are saying is that we at Nuaso, Kpongunor, and Manaam won’t accept the prepaid meters in these communities.
“So when they [Soldiers and Police] get to these places, whether they are soldiers or policemen, they can’t step foot here. That’s the exact reason we took the steps to signal the MCE and the MP here,” another male demonstrator expressed in Krobo dialect.
