Power in the Yilo and Manya Krobo municipalities will only be restored when the safety of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) staff is assured.

This is according to the power distribution company’s Public Relations Officer, Sakyiwa Mensah.

The two municipalities have been in darkness since Wednesday, July 27, following a disagreement between the residents and ECG over the installation of pre-paid meters.

Speaking on Accra-based CitiNews, Madam Mensah gave reasons her outfit decided to switch off feeders supplying power to the said areas and not only persons resisting the installation.

“It was mainly for safety reasons. By safety, we mean our workers felt threatened. Also, the life and property of consumers within the enclave were at risk. We were working on restoring the power. While at it, we realised that some consumers had on their own started connecting to transformers in other communities which had light. This was done with careless abandon. They did not know the extent of possible damage their actions could cause.”

“They even connected to high tension poles as well. This is an unauthorized entry into the network, and we consider it as illegal. We wanted to monitor what they had done to know how quickly to resolve the interference. Our staff and some military men went to Kwahu North and some residents started pelting stones at them. We had fibre cables cut in some places. Some of our men went to check this and were threatened by residents. They were forced to leave,” she said on Wednesday.

On the back of this, she noted that the company will only reconnect the Yilo and Manya Krobo municipalities once its workers feel safe.

“We should note that we are not forcing anyone to accept the meters.”

Residents have had a long-standing dispute with the power distribution company over supposed wrong estimation of bills and over-billing, which resulted in the death of a young man during a similar protest two years ago.

They contend that the installation of prepaid meters will not be any better and they want a direct supply of power from the Volta River Authority (VRA).