Electricity is a privilege not a right - Ghana energy boss

The boss of Ghana's Electricity Company Ghana (ECG) has defended the decision to cut off electricity to Yilo and Manya Krobo municipalities in Ghana's Eastern Region, saying no one has a birth right to electricity.

"The funny thing is we walk around thinking that it is our right to electricity. It is not a right. It is a privilege," Samuel Mahama said whilst speaking on Hard Truth on Accra based Joy News.

Some residents of Yilo and Manya Krobo allegedly refused to accept new prepaid meters. Those new meters would mean customers would have to pay before receiving electricity.

Relations between local residents and the ECG have disintegrated so badly that the energy company has required support from the army to install the pre-paid meters in people's homes, Mr Mahama told Joy News.

"The prepaid is not negotiable. They should not for a second believe that the prepaid will be negotiated. The soldiers are also not going anywhere. My people need to be protected. They equally have families as anyone," Mr Mahama continued.

The communities have been cut off from the national grid, leading to some businesses in the area threatening to fire their workers, as employers are being made to choose between buying fuel to boot up generators or shutting up shop until they get electricity back, according to Ghana's Joy News.

Some residents have said that their lives are becoming unbearable with some students unable to study for exams, Joy News reports.

In addition, families say mortuary workers are asking them to collect their loved ones from morgues as fears grow that the dead bodies will decompose due to no electricity.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

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