By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The disconnection of power source into Ghana’s parliamentary building on Thursday by the authorities of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has continued to generate reactions, a major move towards the recovery of debts owed to the company from the use of electricity by the parliamentarians, amounting to the sum of 23 million Ghanaian cedi, approximately $1.8 million.
The Heritage Times HT recalls that this happened just weeks after the authorities of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in the neighbouring Nigerian capital issued a 10-day notice to 86 government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to pay up the sum of N47.1 billion electricity debt they owe or risk disconnection. The Presidential Villa, which hosts the President’s office was listed among the debtors and it owed the sum of N923.87 million, roughly $583,000.
The ECG had earlier warned that it would disconnect the electricity supply to the parliament over the GH¢23 million debt after repeated demand notices to clear the debt were ignored. The power cut disrupted the parliament’s deliberation on the state of the nation speech delivered by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo.
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The Heritage Times HT recalls that the blackout occurred when Abena Osei-Asare, the outgoing Deputy Minister for Finance, was defending the president’s speech. Videos showing the dark scene of the parliament in which some lawmakers were shouting “dumsor”, a Ghanaian word for “power outage”, have appeared on social media.
Power infrastructure has remained a top challenge among the two West African countries, and others in the sub-region, with several communities highly under-served and yet to be connected to the national grid. According to a 2022 report of the World Bank, West Africa has one of the lowest rates of electricity access in the world, with only about 42% of the total population, and 8% of rural residents, having access to electricity.
Electricity is a crucial asset towards enhancing people’s opportunities and choices. Access to reliable and efficient energy is key to boosting economic activity and contributes to improving human capital, which in turn, is an investment in a country’s potential.
However, the failure of Ghanaian parliament to pay its electricity bills, shunning several demands notices and warnings to offset outstanding debts appears antithetical to the development of already troubled sector, being that no business can survive in an environment where it is muzzled by a pillage of unpaid bills by customers (consumers).
Also, coming from a government institution, the highest lawmaking body in the country, it does not speak well to the parliament’s profile to provide leadership that the rest of the citizens could follow in terms of doing things the right way at all times. It took a drastic action such as cutting power in such a symbol of democratic institution, just to send a message on why payment should be made for services rendered.
It’s A Failure of Governance — Minority Spokesperson
The disconnection of power source to the country’s parliamentary building by the taskforce team of ECG came at the same time many Ghanaians are already complaining of erratic power supply. Commenting on the development, the Minority Spokesperson on Mines and Energy, John Jinapor, blamed the power outages on the inability of government to purchase fuel for Ghana’s thermal plants.
Jinapor highlighted the persistent and consistent load-shedding by the country’s power generation companies.
“Indeed, the load-shedding is getting worse by the day. The very day His Excellency the President was delivering the State of the Nation address and boasting, up that very period, the utility companies were shedding the load,” he said on Thursday, February 29, 2024.
Mr. Jinapor revealed that on February 28, there was a massive power deficit of 530 megawatts, which resulted in power cuts to neighbouring countries such as Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Togo. “You will attest that there was some massive darkness yesterday. Today at 12 pm, load-shedding will commence again.”
He explained that several of the country’s thermal power plants are not functioning properly, resulting in a significant reduction in power generation, blaming it on the government’s inability to purchase enough fuel to run the thermal plants. The parliamentarian urged the government to be more transparent and open about the situation and to provide people with the information they need to plan their lives.
Recent reports from Ghana point to steep economic dip, high inflation and persistent blackouts, corroborating Mr. Jinapor’s position, suggesting that the era of unstable electricity which characterised the West African nation between 2012 and 2016 is here again. This is seen as a reversal from recent years when the coal-rich country was seen as one of the most promising and fastest growing economies on the continent.
Additionally, 10% loss of its total electricity generation capacity is partly responsible for power rationing and electricity cuts. Also, supply of clean energy is insufficient in the country while access is also uneven. In the rural communities, people rely on other forms of energy such as firewood or biomass to meet their needs. Reports say biomass accounts for over 46% of energy use in Ghana’s rural areas.
Nigeria’s Government Agencies Biggest Debtors Despite Budgetary Allocations
The recent release of list of federal government agencies owing humongous amounts of money to Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), the firm covering Abuja franchise area came as a surprise to many, especially with the inclusion of the Presidential Villa. This is despite millions of Naira budgeted annually by the MDAs on electricity.
Unlike private business organisations who get disconnected from the power supply within a short or no notice over failure to pay bills, MDAs enjoy continuous access to power supply from distribution companies, despite pillaging debts crippling the already struggling power sector.
The Heritage Times HT gathered that the Ministry of Defence owed AEDC at least N12 billion as of December 2023 despite having a yearly budget of N35 million for electricity charges for its headquarters operations in Abuja.
An Enugu-based energy analyst, Joshua Rita in response to the debts said, “Most of these debts by MDAs were accumulated over the years, although some of them are unverified debts. Don’t forget, the distribution companies do what they call estimated billing. How they arrive at the amount they usually award to customers is not transparently ascertained, as it is highly estimated just like the name implies.
“Also, Nigeria’s rising budget deficit is having a serious effect on some MDAs; some of them struggle to implement 60 percent of the budget due to lack of funds,” she added.
Findings by The Heritage Times HT indicates that the Presidential Villa which owed Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) N923 million had a budget of N360 million for electricity charges in 2023 and N354 million for 2022.
Also, the Ministry of Defence owed AEDC the sum of N5.43 billion despite having a budget of N121 million for its headquarters electricity charges in 2022 and another N121 million in 2023. The Ministry of Education had a debt of N1.82 billion with AEDC despite having a budget of N6.2 million for electricity charges in its headquarters operations in 2023.
The Ministry of Health recorded a debt of N1.19 billion with Abuja DisCo despite having a budget of N14.75 million for its headquarters electricity charges in 2023.
Other agencies indebted to AEDC include, the ministry of FCT with a N7.5 billion debt, Ministry of Finance which owed over N5.4billion, followed by the Niger State Governor-Abuja Liaison Office with N3.4 billion. Also in the list of the electricity debtors are, ministry of state for Petroleum, Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Police Force, even the Ministry of Power itself, among others.
‘AEDC Helpless’
An energy reporter, Kingsley Orjiakor told The Heritage Times that though the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) may have a good case with regards to the recovery of its debts, it may not have the capacity to enforce its 10-day notice given to the MDAs to pay up outstanding bills. The ten days of grace expired on February 28 but it is left to be seen if the company can wield the big stick by cutting off electricity supply in the affected agencies if they failed to comply.
“I was told the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) was among those yet to update payment with the Abuja distribution company. What I can tell you is that that office is powerful, that it would deploy its full weight to frustrate the AEDC in carrying out any disconnection whatsoever.
“What you must also ask is, why would AEDC allow bills accumulate to that extent, running into billions of Naira for one agency alone? If the individual customers and small businesses were owing this way, would they still remain in operation?
“I think the same energy they exert in molesting and harassing individual households with payment of their estimated bills should be extended to the government agencies. The poor cannot be paying while the rich enjoy power free of charge. But for now, the enforcement of the ten-day ultimatum on military formations and police headquarters will be difficult without a friendly dialogue,” he stated.
