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ECG workers embark on nationwide demonstration

Several of the workers, clad in red armbands locked up their various offices to protest against the move.

 

Addressing the media, the Eastern regional chairman of the Public Utility Workers Union and Senior Staff Association, Abraham Lincon, said the workers will be forced to resign en masse if government fails to listen to their pleas.

President John Dramani Mahama had earlier justified the need for government to secure a private investor in the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

He said “…[People may argue that] Electricity is so important that it must be monopolized by the state, why are you allowing private sector in but we have had this system for years, and it’s not working. If it’s not working, we fix it.

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“You fix a situation by taking risks. It is a risk we took when we deregulated telecommunications. If you are not ready to take risks then the world is not ready to make progress”.

Some private businesses have already tended in a bid for a Public- Private Partnership deal with the Electricity Company of Ghana, according to the Millennium Development Authority.

Under the deal, government is supposed to go for one of several options of a Public- Private Partnership that will help the ECG collects its debts more efficiently.

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And government has opted for a concessional partnership which will see a partner that will have exclusive rights to operate, maintain and invest in the ECG for a number of years.

However, the Public Utilities Workers’ Union have continued to mount pressure against the privatisation of the power distributor.

According to them, government will have to give up a lot under any kind of privatisation process. Government will either give away ownership in an outright takeover, or give away control in a concessionary arrangement.

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