Somanya ECG office attacked over ‘extremely outrageous’ bills

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The Eastern regional office of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) office has come under attack from angry residents over outrageous bills.

Sticks, stones, broken glasses and dirtied walls tell the tale of a spontaneous attack on the Somanya building of the power distribution company which began at about 11 am on Friday.

This was after the protesters had waited for over an hour for a response from management without getting any.

Sizing up the intrusion and bracing for violence, the staff remain locked inside the building awaiting rescue from the police.

While the staff wait for help, the police are also waiting for reinforcements as there are 10 officers facing the throng in their hundreds.

Recounting the incident to myjoyonline.com, a resident Nakotey, explained that the crowd emerged impulsively after ECG embarked on an early morning mass disconnection exercise.

The disconnection exercise was to try and compel clients to settle mounting debts.

But it infuriated the community that has been complaining about ‘extremely outrageous’ billing system for close to a year.

Nakotey explained that some residents in compound houses who used to share  GHC200 now have to share between GHC1,500 and GHC2,000.

Some bills have piled up to 7,500 in a community of small businesses, traders and farmers.

For months without success, they have drawn the attention of the company to the perceived anomaly.

Considering the mass disconnection exercise as adding insult to injury, their tolerance level snapped triggering an uncoordinated march to the newly commissioned office. The protesters are reported to have defaced the building.

Some youths wielding cutlasses and cudgels nearly inflicted wounds on a man believed to be a staff of the company, but less angry protesters prevailed on the more incensed to spare the man’s life.

The Yilo Krobo MP Magnus Kofi Amoatey abandoned efforts to calm the throng after early efforts failed to dissuade them.

Source: Ghana|myjoyonline.com