A large section of Gomoa Potsin in the Central Region has been without electricity for three days following a disconnection by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The disconnection follows a confrontation between residents of a household and an ECG monitoring team during an inspection of a faulty meter, during which one of the utility company’s staff members was reportedly injured.
ECG subsequently disconnected power to the affected area, leaving residents and businesses struggling to cope with the prolonged outage.
Residents have condemned the alleged assault on the ECG employee and appealed to the company to restore power to the community.
Elizabeth Tetteh, a shop owner, said the blackout had severely affected her business, particularly the sale of chilled drinks and ice cream.
“I operate a drinking spot and sell ice cream. People are not buying because the drinks are not cold. The ice cream stock I had has also gone bad. Most potential customers assume I’m closed because of the darkness,” she said.
Other residents said the prolonged darkness had also raised security concerns in the area.
One resident said thieves had allegedly taken advantage of the blackout to break into an apartment and steal electrical cables.
“We do not condone violence, so we are appealing to ECG to reconnect us to the grid. Those of us living at New Site are really suffering,” the resident said.
Cold-store operator Azara also said she had incurred losses and was forced to rely on a generator to keep her business running.
“I sell meat and drinks, so I had to get a standby generator after some of the meat went bad. We have been without power for three days now,” she said.
The Assembly Member for the Potsin Electoral Area, Ebenezer Adams, said the situation was affecting the livelihoods of residents and appealed to ECG to restore power.
He also pledged to assist the authorities in identifying and apprehending the person allegedly responsible for the assault on the ECG staff member.
“We render an unqualified apology to them. They should temper justice with mercy and reconnect us to the national grid,” Mr Adams said.
Residents are hopeful that ECG will reconsider the disconnection while steps are taken to address the incident involving its staff and resolve the underlying dispute.
