The convener of AriseGhana and former national chairman of the People's National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah, has requested that the government provide citizens with free electricity meters.

His demands come amidst the recent interruption in utility services, particularly electricity, across the country.

Speaking in an interview with Joy Prime’s Roselyn Felli on the Prime Morning show, he explained that it is irrelevant for the citizenry to purchase metres and pay electricity bills.

According to him, people indulge in illegal connections because the process involved in buying the metres is sometimes cumbersome and the ECG delays the distribution of them.

“Electricity metres should be given to citizens for free because you buy and you pay, so it doesn’t make sense. I’m in need of a metre; I can’t get it. I want a metre; I go and tab it from my neighbour’s place, then you come and tell me it’s an illegal connection. When you were supposed to give me a metre, you are going through some rigidity and Redtapeism,” Mr. Mornah said.

The AriseGhana convener also suggested that the ECG should imitate telecom providers who used to sell SIM cards but later changed to providing them free for citizens.

Speaking about the health impact that power outages may have on people, Mr. Mornah stated that turning off electricity at hospitals is a risky decision that may result in the loss of lives. As a result, he urged the ECG to reconsider its decision to limit the power of indebted healthcare providers.

“Because of the indebtedness of our hospitals, I’ve heard ECG say they want to turn off their lights. I’ll advise them that, as for sickness, it doesn’t know whether you’re empty, minister, or vice president. The day that they’ll turn off Korle-Bu, I pray that ECG officials will fall sick and they’ll be at Korle-Bu, needing operations, and they’ll tell you that your people turned off the light, we’re unable to do the operation, and we’ll see how people will go through. So, don’t toil with people’s health. If there’s no light in the operation theatres, what will happen?” the convener quizzed. 

He thinks some officials ought to be sacked because they have failed their responsibility to follow up with institutions that are owing the company and ensure they pay their debt.

The former chairman is of the view that the inability of the company to collect payments from debtors consistently is the reason the bills have hiked and the majority of people are unable to pay.

The government claims that the country's current energy crisis cannot be attributed to the popular Akan phrase 'dumsor'. However, Mr. Mornah says it is ‘dumsor’ because it is the local term for power challenges and that government should accept the problems to enable them fix it.

The recent electricity disruption began after the ECG published a communiqué on power outages during the peak period between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. due to changes in some distributed transformers.

This has so far reduced production, as some business owners have raised concerns over the recent power outages in the country and the effects on their businesses. Students have also lamented the severe effects on their studies as they are unable to join online classes.

Meanwhile, the ECG has pleaded with citizens to bear with the outages while the officials fasten the process of fixing the transformers so that the country will regain strong power connections.