Ghanaians and Electricity; the need to change the status quo

 The month-long revenue mobilization exercise by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), in which I partook, revealed a very shocking attitude of Ghanaians particularly towards electricity to me. I never considered I would easily yield to any brand of argument that cite the people as the cause of their own misery, especially when government agencies are involved. I tell you what, I was in for a rude awakening. My own naivety was exposed to me during this exercise. As vital as electricity is to our daily activities, it would seem unimaginable that people would be so hesitant to pay their bills.

 

What I witnessed with the revenue collection teams on the field presented me with two sharply contrasting, indeed irreconcilable tales. The tales of desperately needing something and not willing to pay for it. Save for some few households, businesses and state agencies, almost everyone owed ECG some amount of money. For those we visited, I observed that in a random sample of 10 postpaid meter users, 8 owed ECG substantially, proportional to their rate of consumption. 2 out of every 10 prepaid meter users tampered with their meters, in one form or another, to cheat ECG. And a whole lot of unauthorized and even unsafe connections to the grid.

Worse yet, the sight of ECG officials inexplicably awakened the ‘demons’ in some people. You may be familiar with “ECG official(s) attacked by customer(s)” because it has become a common news headline. What you do not know is that, if every customer assault on ECG worker, physical/verbal were to be broadcast or published by news outlets, they won’t be left with any airtime or space for other stories. Some people welcomed and said goodbye to my team with abusive words. The rogue ones even confiscated our working tools. One of my team members told me he no longer attached meaning to what the abusive customers say. I later thought it wise to join him because the work seems to come with the territory; you couldn’t just help but ignore them. And just so I am not misunderstood, some customers were extremely pleasant to talk with and very cooperative while others paid all their bills promptly. Kudos to them! 

 

But then, if I didn’t know any better I’d think these people wouldn’t mind if they were disconnected from the grid. They came across as people who did not need electricity that much. How else could they not care at all that piling up their bills would lead to a possible disconnection if they fail to settle them. Make no mistake, they are the same people who curse and bastardize ECG more than anyone whenever there is a power outage, caused by events as unavoidable as accidents. Ghanaians love electricity so much so that they yanked a president from his seat because he couldn’t provide them with reliable electricity. The years of “dum sor” and its ramifications undeniably contributed to the ousting of President Mahama. 

 

 

The sixty-four thousand dollar question is, why do Ghanaians love electricity so much and yet they hate to pay for it? You buy groceries, LPG, fuel for your car, pay rent and others without any fuss. What is it with electricity that makes people think they shouldn’t be paying for it; and make those who pay, do so grudgingly? Is it too much to ask Ghanaians to hold up their end of the bargain by paying their electricity bills promptly to enable the provider (ECG) to serve them with reliable service? To make it worse, reputable state and non state agencies and institutions, who should be the standard bearers, come at the top of the list of bill defaulters. I cannot for the life of me wrap my head around all this. Is it a sheer expression of shared irresponsibility, negligence or what? How do you owe a company over a million cedis and still expect them to continue to give you unabridged service? How about their sustenance, how do you expect them to operate?

 

For general information, the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are breathing down the neck of ECG to settle its outstanding debts lest they discontinue producing power for it (ECG). ECG buy power from these IPPs such as VRA, GRIDCo etc and distribute it for individual consumption. If people don’t pay their bills promptly, ECG cannot guarantee them continuous power supply, anymore than it can continue to shutdown its offices temporarily to go after reasonable people to pay for what they know they should be paying for. Pay your bills to buy yourself the moral right to hold ECG responsible for irregular power supply. We are always quick to distribute blame for malfunctioning systems to everyone but ourselves. The government and its agencies have always been the “whipping boys” for our collective failure as a people. It does not always have to be about what Ghana can do for you. Along the lines of John F Kennedy’s inaugural address; ask not what Ghana can do for you, ask what you can do for Ghana.