‘Power will not be disconnected again’ – Leadership of new Kejetia market to traders

Leadership of the Kumasi Kejetia Traders Association has indicated that measures have been put in place to ensure that power to the new Kejetia market is not disconnected again.

According to the leadership, traders in the market have been asked to raise funds to defray the debt owed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

This comes on the back of the restoration of power to the market on Tuesday, June 28, after almost a week of blackout following the disconnection of power supply by ECG over the failure of the traders to pay bills amounting to GH¢5.2 million.

Speaking to Citi News, President of the Federation of Kumasi traders, Nana Akwasi Prempreh said a committee has been instituted to ensure that the debt is cleared.

“ECG disconnecting the power might not occur again, so we have entreated all the traders to support us to settle the bills on time. A committee has been set up to be in charge of sharing the bill, and it has started compiling the list. So by next Monday, they will begin the sharing in order for us to pay 20 percent of the debts by July 15.”

Last week, there was a blackout at the market after officials from the ECG disconnected power to the facility.

This situation, was because the traders refused to pay their electricity bills for close to fourteen months after the management of the facility failed to provide each shop with a meter.

Leadership of the traders disclosed that following several engagements with the management of the facility and the Electricity Company of Ghana, the traders have made the commitment to pay the outstanding bills.

In 2021, the failure of the management of the facility to ensure the provision of meters for each shop forced the leadership of the traders to instruct their members not to pay any bills to the management.

This decision led to the disconnection of electricity supply to the shops.

The traders insisted that until each shop is provided with a personal meter, they are not going to pay any bill to the management.

About 7,200 shops at the facility were affected by the disconnection exercise.

For months, the traders, and the management of the facility have had disagreements over the payment of electricity bills.

Source: Citi Newsroom