Editorial: Ashanti Regional Minister should be sacked if he fails to apologise to ECG

Yesterday, we raised serious concerns over the conduct exhibited by the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah. The minister, according to starrfm.com.gh, had caused the arrest and detention of the Ashanti regional manager of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

The crime of the manager was that he disconnected power to Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) from the national grid, due to an outstanding debt of GH?1.2 million. To Osei Mensah, the Manager ought to have informed him as the minister in charge of the region, before taking off the power, but he failed to do that.

We contended that the minister had no locus to do what he did and that ECG as an institution does not report to him. We referenced similar actions that had been taken in Accra earlier, but no minister, not even the Energy Minister, ordered the arrest of the Managing Director of the ECG, Mr Dubik Mahama.

The Chronicle again delved into the rationale behind the actions that are being taking against corporate entities and individuals by ECG to retrieve the debt owed the company. It is largely acknowledged that the current power crisis facing Ghana is as a result of financial challenges. ECG, as an off-taker, is unable to pay the power producers, which is affecting the cash flow of the latter and subsequently reduction in power generation.

To help salvage the situation, ECG decided to embark on aggressive revenue mobilisation to collect all debts owed by corporate bodies and public institutions. This is obviously causing consternation in some quarters, but as we noted yesterday, it is the necessary evil to help us keep our lights on.

Simon Osei Mensah, as a minister, is aware of these challenges, but he decided to use the power he wields, probably as the chairman of the Ashanti Regional Security Council to cause the arrest of the ECG regional manager, who was doing the job assigned him. We then concluded that President Akufo-Addo should reprimand him because his action was unlawful.

In a press statement issued in Kumasi yesterday, the ECG staff – both junior and senior – are also not happy with the behaviour of the minister and even threatening an industrial action if the case against their manager was not withdrawn.

“We want the Regional Minister to know that ECG does not report to him and does not take instructions from him on all of its activities including Revenue Mobilisation/Collection. We want to make it clear to the political authorities in Ashanti region that ECG reserves the right to disconnect any institution or individual for non-payment of bills or power consumed, without taking instructions from person outside the ECG”, the statement  said.

“We demand an unqualified apology from the Ashanti Regional Minister to the General Manager in particular and the entire ECG, and withdrawal of the case from the police station by close of day, Tuesday 23rd of April, 2024 else the entire ECG Ashanti Region, as first step in registering our displeasure, will HOIST RED FLAGS and be in red on Wednesday, the 24th of April, 2024.”

Based on the narration we had earlier given, The Chronicle agrees with the workers that Minister Osei Mensah should apologise to the man he caused the police to detain without any legal basis. Indeed this is not the first time the minister is exhibiting this kind of conduct.

Somewhere last year, he ordered his personal bodyguard to arrest a farmer who was drying cocoa on a newly asphalted road in Ashanti Region. What the farmer did, we must admit, was very wrong but the aggressive manner the minister called for his (farmer) arrest was equally wrong. This is why we think he must apologise for the latest incident. Should he fail to apologise to the ECG manager, as the workers are demanding, the president should remove him from office.

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