By: Ama Gyamfuah
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has restored power to the Kumasi Kejetia Market after a two-day blackout caused by unpaid electricity bills amounting to over 2.9 million Ghana Cedis.
The disconnection affected more than 7,000 shops, administrative offices, and other facilities in the market due to the accumulated debt.
On August 14, 2024, the market’s management made a payment of Four hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH₵400,000) to ECG and agreed to a payment plan for the remaining debt, leading to the restoration of power.
Speaking in an interview, Nana Poku director in charge of operations revealed that as of May 2024, the market owed ECG a total of 7.5 million Ghana Cedis (equivalent to 75 billion old Ghana Cedis).
“By August 15, 2024, we had already paid over 6 billion new Ghana Cedis (equivalent to 60 billion old Ghana Cedis). However, we still owe around 2.7 million Ghana Cedis. Before the disconnection, ECG warned us, but we were unable to meet their demands because many traders were refusing to pay their bills, leading to the disconnection,” a market official explained.
The market’s debt is split into three phases, amounting to roughly 21 million new Ghana Cedis (equivalent to 21 billion old Ghana Cedis).
The breakdown includes 5.4 billion old Ghana Cedis owed for May, 8.7 billion for June, and a legacy debt of 6.9 billion cedis. As part of a payment plan submitted to ECG, market management has committed to paying 100,000 Ghana Cedis daily, beginning on August 13, 2024.
To enforce compliance, several shops have been locked, prompting traders to settle their outstanding bills. According to a market official, this approach has proven effective, as traders have started making payments.
The official placed responsibility on the traders and shop owners, stating that if they had paid their bills on time, ECG would not have disconnected electricity.
The director of operations in the market said “We are conducting targeted debt collection from those who haven’t paid. With our payment plan of GH₵100,000 per day, we aim to clear our May debt of 5.4 billion old cedis by August 20, 2024. For the June bill, we proposed a four-part payment structure, with daily payments of 2 billion old cedis from August 23 to September 6, 2024, to clear the 8.7 billion old cedis debt. While this payment plan may affect traders’ capital, we have no option but to comply,” he added.
The legacy debt payment structure is also divided into three phases, with daily payments of 2.5 million old cedis, aiming to clear the entire 21 billion new cedis debt by September 6, 2024.