The ECG has, therefore, called on customers in the district to cooperate with management in their own interest.

Most customers in the Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo areas under the Krobo District of ECG have been placed on prepaid meters and management of the company has called all other customers in the district to be part of the prepaid metering system for their own good.

Press briefing

Addressing the media at a press conference at the ECG Krobo District Office at Somanya last Monday, the Krobo District Manager, Christopher Apawu, stated that ECG meter replacement was always done in phases and it was now the time for the customers at the Atimpoku, Akrade, Akuse and Asutsuare areas.

With him at the press conference were the Tema Region Marketing Officer, Nii Kwei Codjoe, the Krobo District Human Resource Manager, Vivian Apekey, the Krobo District Engineer, Tetteh Apan, and Krobo District Accounts Officer, Patience Nutakor.

Mr Apawu stated, “Prepaid meter installation begins with pre-installation surveys and general education on the functionality of the meters.

The district has started with these initial works in Akrade, Atimpoku and then moved to Akuse and Asutsuare and the actual meter replacement in these areas will begin hopefully in the first quarter of 2024.”

He, however, explained that all new service requests in these areas and by extension all areas under the Krobo District were being served with prepaid meters, which meant that there were already some new prepaid meters in those areas.

“In all we are looking at replacing over 10,000 postpaid meters with prepaid meters.

All these replacements will be at the cost of ECG and no customer is to pay for any of the replacements. 

I want the customers to be alert so that anybody who wants to collect money from any customer for the meter replacement, be it ECG worker or anybody at all, should be exposed to the company for the law to deal with such a person or group of people,” Mr Apawu advised.

The Krobo District Manager explained further that meter replacements were different from new service requests, hence while meter replacements were free of charge for the customer, new service requests came at a fee to be borne by the customers.

Mr Apawu cautioned that no customer was to install unauthorised meter or meters in anticipation that they would be replaced, as such action was illegal and anyone caught would equally be made to face the full rigours of the law.

He said the company already had data on all meters to be replaced and any additional meter would be identified.

Mr Apawu said ever since ECG Krobo District and the customers in the Krobo area had a challenge a year or two ago, the relationship with the customers had been very good and cordial and the company was poised to maintain such relationship.

He, therefore, pleaded with the Krobo customers to also maintain same going forward.

 He announced that the fun games held earlier would come off again in February next year and urged the various teams to get themselves ready.

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However, girls who have had abortions, given birth or carried pregnancies are still not allowed to go through the rites.

Dipo rites

According to them, many girls were now sexually active, leaving them with no choice but to allow “non-virgins” to take part in the rites. 

The modification, they believe, will attract more adolescent girls to the rites which in the past were to usher only virgin girls between the ages of 10 and 15 into puberty or womanhood.

The mothers shared their concern when The Mirror team visited the Dipo House at Dodowa to witness this year’s ceremony.

The mothers are the elderly traditional women ensuring that the Dipo rites are performed.

Lack of interest

The mothers who were in their 80s, said they were unhappy that the current generation was not interested in learning the processes of the rites.

Their fear is that, in the event where they all pass away, there will be no one to replace them to perform the rites for the girls in the community.

Ushering this reporter into the Dipo house, one of the mothers asked: Do you see any deity here? 

There were 30 girls wearing various types of beads which covered their nakedness. 

The old woman said people had a lot of misconceptions which destroyed “the beauty and essence of our culture. And because of that no one wants to come to us and learn.”

The leader of the “mothers, Awunye Ashiakie, who has been involved in Dipo rites for the past 60 years, said she started assisting older women when she was 20 years old.

She explained that although she prepared over 100 girls for the puberty rites each year, the number was still small as compared to the past. 

She attributed the low patronage to modernity ,particularly education, the introduction of new media as well as influence from some pastors.

Awunye Ashaikie’s main worry was about the activities of some religious leaders who saw the puberty rites as an evil doctrine.

Another mother, Maameo, said the decline in virginity affected the numbers such that if they continued to stick to only virgins, Dipo rites would soon fade out. 

Modification

Asked whether Dipo had outgrown its usefulness and should be cancelled,  they all retorted loudly, “y3 ntwa mu,” to wit “we will never cancel it.”

Awunye Ashaikie who seemed very resolved to preserve Dipo said: “Dipo means “nhyira” in Akan which means blessings and “yo” in Ga and Krobo means a woman, so it is all about asking God’s blessings for the girl and so when we say “Dipo yo”, that is what we mean.

“It is the misconception people peddle around that is preventing others from bringing their daughters. I have heard people say you will not give birth or get married when you go through it and that is false,” she said.

Although Dipo is popular, it is one of the criticised traditional practices in the country.

The Mirror observed, however, that it attracted many tourists.

Dipo is celebrated by a few Dangme groups, namely the Shai and the Krobo in the Eastern Region, and it is held in the month of April.

Some community members told The Mirror that the mothers made the announcement of the dates for the rites and parents sent their girls to take part.

Unlike the past where the girls were lined up bare-chested and almost naked, this reporter observed  that that was no longer the case. Girls who exposed their breasts were those who wanted to take photographs to portray the rites as done in the past.

This reporter saw that as part of the changes, girls as young as two years of age were allowed to go through the rites.

There were girls whose mothers brought them without the consent of their fathers and so such girls refused to shave their hair so they could go home quietly with no traces of the rites.

Girls who refused to shave their hair as the rites demanded paid a penalty of GH¢5 to the mothers.

Currently, to enable a girl to go through the rites, parents are supposed to pay GH¢500.00 to the mothers.

Preparation

The girls are camped in the Dipo house for a week and are given a ritual bath,  taught some cooking skills, housekeeping roles and personal grooming.

They are also taught the Dipo dance which is called ‘’klama’’. The girls perform the dance all through the rites.

The  kind of beads being used by the girls are those hardly seen on the market and this made each girl look unique and beautiful.

Parents of these girls were there to support them. It was exciting to see fathers cheering their daughters on.

A resident, Mr David Tetteh, said: “the men are always supportive and that’s because we practise the patrilineal system”.

Another resident, Papao Djabletey, said: “the white people come here to witness and I know that if this was their culture, we would have gone all the way there to pay and enjoy.”

Sexual orientation

Asked whether it was true that the girls were taught how to please their future partners sexually, Awunye Ashaikie laughed and said there were a lot of misconceptions out there; “3y3 ahoseasie k3k3,” that is to say, it is solely good grooming.

Importance of dipo rites

She said the rites prevented girls from being teenage mothers, contracting sexually transmitted diseases and helped them to remain chaste and develop properly.

“When you know that you have to do this before involving yourself with a man then you will wait. Dipo serves as a waiting period,” she said.

The Stone

The crux of the rites is when the girls are made to sit on a stone which was believed to determine virginity in the past.

No girl who had sat on the stone had seen how it looked as they were made to close their eyes.

The Mirror witnessed that as soon as the girls stepped out of the stone enclosure, parents ran as a sign of victory to carry their daughters and rushed out of the  area.

Awunye Ashaikie explained that the stone served as a stool for kings in the olden days because there were no proper stools, adding that their forefathers brought the stone with them during their migration to their present place.

“So when the girls sit on it, they receive blessings from our ancestors. They become “oheneba”, that is, the daughter of a king. Nothing evil goes in there. You saw us entering, did you see us going in with anything?” she asked.

She said girls who did not go through the rites could neither be queenmothers nor serve the community.

Girls who went through the rites received a mark on their hands as a sign of participation, she said.

Tourism enthusiast

A tourism enthusiast and owner of Gaze Park and Eatery in Tamale, Ms Hamda Salifu, said it was important for the tourism ministry to brand Dipo rites into a grand festival that would put the nation on the international market to facilitate development.

According to her, it was a beautiful cultural practice that already attracted tourists across the globe, “so all we need to do is to market it extensively to attract more people.”

The office has, for the past few weeks, displayed a number of these fake meters alongside original ones on a notice board at the office, where customers are constantly engaged and educated so as to become aware of the various types of fake meters in the system.

This campaign was necessitated when, during routine monitoring exercises, it becomes apparent that a number of customers had fake meters installed at their premises.

“Customers are being continually scammed by vendors of fake meters who pose as ECG workers, approach potential customers and then eventually give them these fake meters,” the Engineer in charge of the office, Tetteh Apan said.

He added that “customers are usually caught unawares by these vendors of fake meters which are made to seem like they are from ECG.

He added that the nameplates of the meters are changed to often look like that of original meters. 

Some of these fake meters work alright but as they are not part of the ECG system, customers will often not get bills.

However, once the meter is seen by the ECG, the total amount of energy it has consumed is determined and the user is billed accordingly. The energy supply of the user is also cut off and they are asked to report to the ECG office to start the process of acquiring a meter correctly.

Potential customers of ECG and the public are being encouraged to ignore such fake meters to avoid issues.

The citizens have shown interest in this campaign by engaging ECG officials and asking for the differences between the fake and original meters, as well as what to do in case they chance on some.

On this, they are told to inform ECG so the necessary punitive and corrective measures can be put in place.

Monitoring and auditing of energy meters and other equipment are part of the core activities undertaken by the ECG.

These are done to ensure the integrity of these and to ensure that they are working as they should. In instances where fake meters are seen, they are seized by the ECG. ECG pleads with the public to help in informing them about such fake meters whenever they chance on some.

The recent power cut comes on the back of claims of rejection of prepaid meters by the residents who ECG officials have accused of threatening to pour hot oil on a team that includes the military.

Apart from the affected area, the rest of the towns and villages in the two municipalities will continue to access power.

The Tema region ECG Public Relation Officer, Sakyiwa Mensah, confirmed the development. 

There has been mounting tension in some communities in the Lower Manya Krobo municipality as some residents of Nuaso, a community in the municipality accused the military detachment assisting the ECG to install prepaid meters of brutalities.

The attacks have left many severely injured while others live in fear.

One of the female victims of the attack explained that “when they came, I was preparing food in the kitchen. They said I should enter my room and I said I was cooking so I cannot go with them.

“The moment I said I cannot go, they took their cane and started beating me. They said we are going to come again, and we will come and beat you more than this.”

Ebenezer Teye Padi, who also sustained injuries to the face and back, alleged that one of the soldiers hit his head with the butt of his rifle while sitting with friends.

“We have a resting place, we sit there. We saw the military men coming towards us, they didn’t ask us any question and they started beating us up. Anybody they saw roaming about, meant that you were their enemy.

“Nobody told us that ECG and military men are coming to us so if you are a resident you will ask them what they are doing here. That is our mistake. Look at my back, they hit my head with their gun,” he said.

In a related development, ECG in response to the accusation has condemned the incident, noting that “these attacks are unfortunate situations.”

“The team has withdrawn from Nuaso Old Town,” the ECG stated.

Explaining what accounted for the attacks, ECG said “in Nuaso Old Town, there was resistance. One woman threatened to pour hot oil on the ECG personnel and the Military as well.”

According to ECG, “a crowd started amassing around one ECG Team. The Military was able to retrieve a cutlass from one of those amassing around the ECG people.

“There have been reports of constant verbal abuses and attacks on the personnel doing the installation in Nuaso Old Town.”

ECG, however, called for peace and calm so that their personnel can be able to discharge their duties peacefully.

This comes after weeks of the residents being compelled to live in darkness for failing to pay their bills among others.

However, the jubilation that heralded the restoration of electricity supply was short-lived.

JoyNews’ Kwaku Asante reports that, “The light has gone off again. According to the source at ECG, some transformers went up in flames. He says it’s likely the light will come again later today or tomorrow. But they are working round the clock to stabilize the situation.”

Communities in the Yilo Krobo and Manya Krobo municipalities from Somanya to Kpong, have been in darkness since Wednesday, July 27, because Electricity Company Ghana (ECG) switched off feeders supplying power to communities in the two municipalities over illegal connections.

According to ECG, some recalcitrant residents tampered with their transformers and reconnected power to their homes after they were disconnected for refusal to accept prepaid meters.

The situation became unbearable when families in the area complained that operators of mortuaries were asking them to come for the remains of their loved ones as a result of the power outage.

The concern was that the bodies had decomposed in the wake of the community-wide power cut.

The directive was given by the Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Amoako Asiamah, on Friday, June 24.

According to him, the withdrawal will help bring calm to the community.

“We are also directing that the Minister for Defence withdraws the military attaché in the area for the time being for us to address certain matters, I so direct.”

The Speaker’s order followed a statement made on the floor by the Member of Parliament for the area, Ebenezer Okletey Terlabi.

The lawmaker said the presence of the military men is heightening tensions in the community.

The soldiers are assisting the ECG with the installation of new prepaid meters following months of hostility between residents and the ECG over the payment of electricity bills.

The ECG has justified the use of military personnel during the exercise.

Background

The people of Kroboland have since the year 2014 engaged in a tussle with ECG over the installation of prepaid meters due to what they described as overbilling among others.

The impasse led to several demonstrations and vandalism against ECG staff and property in Somanya and a further resolution by a youth group not to pay light bills anymore. 

Several people were injured and a young man got killed by a bullet during one of the protests against ECG.

The military will be assisted by National Security and the Police.

Customers who still insist on rejecting prepaid meters will be taken off the national grid.

The Municipal Chief Executive for Yilo Krobo, Eric Tetteh is urging all residents to cooperate with the ECG staff.

Speaking to the media in Koforidua on the sidelines of a familiarisation visit by the management of ECG led by the new Managing Director, Samuel Dubik Masubir Mahama, the Director of Customer Service, Anokye Abebreseh said, intensive engagements have been done with all stakeholders in the Krobo area hence expecting maximum cooperation.

“Just last week we met, a tripartite kind of a committee comprising of Electricity company, National Security and United Krobo Foundation. We met and the agreement is that ECG going to install prepaid meters starting from tomorrow for which all of us have agreed .so come tomorrow (Tuesday) we are going to deploy our men to the field to start the installation of prepayment meters.

“We have done a lot of stakeholder engagements so at least for now calm is prevailing so come tomorrow 14th of June we are going to start deployment of prepayment meters,” said Anokye Abebreseh

The installation of prepaid meters comes after years of an impasse between Krobo residents and ECG which escalated into devastating attacks on the ECG office in Somanya and led to a deadly clash with police.

The ECG office has since been shut down.

Residents vowed to resist the installation of Prepaid meters while calling on ECG to write off debts owed by customers in Krobo land from 2018 to 2021.

Answering questions on the controversy of non-payment of electricity bills by residents, Mr Abebreseh stressed that ECG has ringfenced all arrears of customers in the Krobo area from the period between 2014 and 2017 but arrears between 2018 to date must be paid by customers within 5 years however, the debt will not be transferred into the prepaid meters to be installed.

“We made it clear that the period between 2014 and 2017 has been ringfenced so that the customers, for now, will not border themselves about their amount but then the period between 2018 to date the customers are supposed to pay but for goodwill purposes, we’ve asked that we are not going to put the debt on the new prepayment meters.

“Normally the practice is that when you put prepayment meter there you put the debt on the post-paid meter on the prepaid meter so that we will recover whatever debt but in this case we said from 2018 to date we are not going to put it there, and that we will meet customers individually and determine how they should pay the debt.”

The Minister of Energy Matthew Opoku Prempeh revealed a month ago during the ministry’s ‘meet the press’ briefing in Accra that, Technical and commercial losses of about GH¢3.2billion are threatening the future of state-owned power distributor, ECG.

The company’s losses in then exchange terms amounts was US$400million accumulated from power theft, malfunctioning metres, obsolete infrastructure, and ineffective revenue collection, among others.

The minister lamented: “Which company can be viable if it loses that amount of money? Power theft – those who are stealing power, those whose metres are not working and those who don’t have metres but have electricity – is costing ECG nearly GH¢3.2billion,”

Losses from the technical and commercial factors stood at GH¢1.8billion, and GH¢1.5billion respectively in 2021, from GH¢1.4billion, and GH¢1.5billion respectively in 2020.

Technical and commercial losses in the last five years (2017 to 2021) reached GH¢8.9billion)

ECG is therefore on a serious drive to reduce commercial losses in the system

Krobo Odumase is a town and capital of Lower Manya Krobo Municipal District in the Eastern Region of Ghana, and the birth place of Partey.

His enstooling is an act to honor his football exploits which have sold a good name of the community.

He is also being honoured for the Thomas Partey Foundation established in 2021, with the purpose of supporting talented but underprivileged young footballers to make it to the world stage.

The enstooling ceremony was done at the premises of the Chief of the Krobo Municipal District, Nene Sakite II.To him, Partey should be a source of inspiration to children in the area.

“I invited Thomas back home so our young children can see the end result of hardwork, perseverance and discipline. I want them to know humility is important to unlock talent and potential.”

The title of ‘Mahefalor’ was conferred on the midfielder to signify he is the defender of the Kroboland.

For the past four days, everything has grinded to a halt with hospitals resorting to using generators for healthcare.

According to reports, health centres have to shut their plant at 12:00am to save their fuel for the next day.

Other businesses like printing houses, barbers, hairdressers have also received their fare share of the problem ahead of the yuletide.

The hardest hit are cold store operators who have to dispose hundreds of cartons of decomposed fish due to the power cut.

They have also been saddled with the cost of repairing their huge industrial fridges that have broken down as a result of the power challenges.

An aggrieved resident, Sabastian Okyere, who operates a private laboratory at Atoa, a town at Manya Krobo, said the power cuts have severely affected his business.

He has to make emergency fuel purchases to power his generator to save the samples from going bad.

Mr Okyere appealed to the chiefs and opinion leaders in the area to engage Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to restore their power.

Meanwhile, ECG has attributed the power outages on activities of unscrupulous persons overloading some transformers which has destroyed several others within the communities.

The power distributor has, therefore, resolved to shut down the feeder at the Bulk Supply Point directly feeding the communities in order to protect its network, lives and property.

That is the sad story of a 41-year-old man who was shot by the police in the waist during a protest by residents of Odumase-Krobo in the Eastern region against the now defunct power firm, Power Distribution Service (PDS).

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Residents of Odumase-Krobo, in May this year clashed with the police over a mass disconnection exercise by the PDS. Their case was that electricity bills charged them by the now-defunct power company were outrageous and demanded the power company investigates the cause of the sudden rise in electricity bills.

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The unfortunate incident, according to Kotey Tetteh, who was part of the residents demonstrating, has ruined his life to the extent that he can neither walk nor sit.

Speaking in an interview on Adom FM’s morning show segment dubbed, ‘Y’asem Nie’ Wednesday, he said he can no longer cater for his family.

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“I was part of the chiefs of the town who went to the Municipal office to lodge a protest over the over-billing of electricity bills by PDS, but unfortunately a fight ensued between the residents of the town and the police after a short misunderstanding, and as a result I was shot in the waist,” he narrated.

Residents of Krobo Odumase in the Eastern Region on Sunday have organised a fund-raising exercise to support victims of police clash that killed one resident and left several others injured.

The victims, who sustained a varied degree of injuries when they embarked on a protest against what they described as over-billing by the now-defunct power company, Power Distribution Service (PDS) have not seen any response from the state in spite of promises of an investigation into the matter.

Speaking in an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Teye Kwao Kassim, spokesperson for the Krobo United Foundation said the initiative was to put smiles on the faces of the victims.

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An amount of GHc3,300 realised from the fundraising activity, according to him, will help the victims to start petty trading.

“Aside from the one person who was shot dead, we now have about 13 people who have been affected,” he explained.

According to Mr Kassim, the Assembly has demonstrated little or no commitment to helping resolve the matter which has cost a lot of people their lives and happiness.

“The Assembly told us a committee will be formed to look into the matter but as at now, nothing of that sought has happened,” he narrated.

The Krobo residents in May this year, clashed with the police during a mass disconnection exercise by PDS insisting that bills charged them by the now-defunct power company, PDS, were outrageous and demanded the power company investigates the cause of the sudden rise.

However, the clash saw several people injured and hospitalised, as live bullets allegedly fired by the police killed 24-year-old Thomas Partey instantly while injuring several others including Kotey Isaac.

A 41-year-old man has narrated how a bullet he received in the waist during a protest by residents of Odumase-Krobo against Power Distribution Service (PDS) has incapacitated him.

Kotey Tetteh was part of a group of Krobo residents who were demonstrating over a mass disconnection exercise that had left the town in darkness for months.

As they marched together with chiefs of the town to the Municipal office to lodge a protest, Mr Kotey said they came face-to-face with armed police officers who shot into the crowd to hit him in the waist, living him bedridden and robbed him of happiness since the 17th of July this year.

Narrating his ordeal in an interview on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem Monday, Kotey said aside from him not being able to cater for his children’s school fees, he is unable to sleep at night due to excruciating pains.

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He said in spite of undergoing a surgical operation, he is unable to walk, a situation he says has affected his economic, social and family lives.

Kotey said he has had to live on painkillers to give him some respite from his pain, a respite that is short-lived, mostly.

The Krobo residents in May this year, clashed with the police during a mass disconnection exercise by PDS insisting that bills charged them by the now-defunct power company, PDS, were outrageous and demanded the power company investigates the cause of the sudden rise.

However, the clash saw several people injured and hospitalised, as live bullets allegedly fired by the police killed 24-year-old Thomas Partey instantly while injuring several others including Kotey Isaac.