Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh says he fully supports electricity distributor, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)’s quest to retrieve every pesewa owed the company. 

This, according to the Minister, is part of overarching efforts ensuring that the company remains viable to deliver efficient service to consumers. 

Dr. Prempeh made these assertions when he led the ECG’s revenue protection task force to two companies that owed the company various sums of money.

The Minister during these two engagements bemoaned the situation where companies pile up bills for a very long time and refuse to pay. 

“As a country we cannot continue to countenance the attitude of non-payment of bills, among other illegalities and expect optimal service delivery” he said.

He said “the financial capacity of the generator, transmitter and distributor is very much anchored on prompt payment of bills, especially as we work to clamp down on all forms of losses and intra-sector debts.

"These three segments of the power value-chain are symbiotically dependent on each other and therefore we must work together to clamp down on all forms of losses."

The Minister said there is no excuse whatsoever for the non-payment of electricity bills and drew an analogy where one cannot negotiate with OMCs to get fuel into his or her car, saying “When you need fuel, you cannot but pay to get it, why can’t you do same for the electricity you consume”, he quizzed.

The Minister who is also the Manhyia South MP further said that the unbearable cost of fuel for generators incurred by Ghanaians during the ‘Dumsor’ era between 2013 and 2016 is indicative of the luxury of power supply currently, and therefore urged consumers to pay promptly for the value chain to function effectively.

The ECG taskforce continue to mount operations to retrieve all debts owed by the company.