Simon Osei-Mensah, the Ashanti Regional Minister, has rejected calls for him to apologise to the Ashanti East General Manager of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr. Michael Asomani-Wiafe for causing his arrest.
At a press conference in Kumasi, the minister stated that he would not apologise for doing his work as the regional minister and the chairman of the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC).
“Apologise for doing my work as the chairman of the security authority for the region? I am asking, do I have to apologise for doing my security work?” he quizzed while responding to a question from a reporter on the calls for him to apologise.
Do I have to apologise for doing my work Ashanti Regional Minister asks ECG staff (youtube.com)
“Nobody can stop me and the regional security council from performing our security responsibilities as enshrined under the constitution,” he added.
Also, the regional minister indicated that he asked the police to invite the ECG General Manager “on security grounds,” adding, “because of the happenings in the electricity power sector in the region.”
5-day ultimatum to apologise
The senior and junior staff members of the ECG in the Ashanti East division, in a statement on April 18, gave the regional minister, Mr. Osei-Mensah, up to Tuesday, April 23, to apologise for causing the arrest of General Manager, Mr. Asomani-Wiafe.
They also demanded the withdrawal of the case from the Police station by close of day, Tuesday, April 23, 2024,” …else the entire ECG Ashanti Region, as a first step in registering our displeasure will hoist red flags and be in red on Wednesday, the 24 of April 2024,” the statement added.
Upon the failure of the minister to heed the request of the ECG staff, all the various offices of ECG hoisted red flags to protest their displeasure with the minister’s actions.
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Threats to continue disconnections
Moreover, ECG has threatened to continue to cut power supply to institutions within the region that fail to pay their electricity bills.
“The action that was taken by the Regional Minister was unnecessary and intimidating. How can the Minister ask our General Manager to take instructions from him before embarking on any disconnection exercise?
“We want to make it clear to him that we (ECG) do not take directives from him,” Ashanti East ECG Senior Staff Union Chairman, Yussif Usman Abdulai, stated.
Meanwhile, the angry ECG staff has asked their four Regional Managers to stop attending any meeting called by the Regional Security Council until the Minister apologizes.
“This is the first in series of our protests. If the Minister still refuses to apologize, the National Executive Committee will meet again and take another action but for now, we will just place red bands in our offices whilst serving our customers without any interruption.
“The Regional Minister should rather be advising institutions to pay their bills for smooth operation of ECG. We do not take delight in going to disconnect institutions or homes, but if you don’t pay, we will come for you without any fear or favour”, National Vice Chairman of ECG Senior Staff Union, Bismark Adomah warned.