The Minister of Energy and Green Transition, Dr John Abdulai Jinapor, has cautioned engineers and managers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) against politicising their responsibilities, warning that negligence and sabotage within the power sector will not be tolerated.
Addressing four regional managers, 21 district managers and engineers of ECG in the Ashanti Region, Dr Jinapor stressed that workers in the energy sector owe their allegiance to Ghana and not to any political party.
“Your job is that of an engineer and not a politician. That’s why I say if you want to be a politician, you exit,” he stated.
According to the Minister, deliberate negligence by some engineers has contributed to unstable power supply and negatively affected the image of the energy sector.
He noted that beyond public criticism directed at government during power outages, ECG also suffers financial losses from power that is paid for but remains unused.
Dr Jinapor urged district managers and officials to improve their performance, describing them as the public face of the company.
“You are the face of the ECG. If the managers don’t work well, it tarnishes the image of the company,” he said.
The Minister disclosed that the Energy Ministry and the Energy Commission are establishing a command and control centre to improve service delivery through modern technology.
The system, he explained, will track response times, monitor transformers and improve communication between citizens and ECG officials. Managers are also expected to receive mobile phones connected to the system to ensure prompt reporting and response to faults.
Dr Jinapor further announced plans to introduce a dedicated short code and contact number for citizens to directly report power-related challenges.
To strengthen operations at the district level, the Ministry also plans to distribute electronic motorcycles and pickup trucks to ECG offices across the country.
He assured workers that government was committed to equipping ECG with the necessary tools to improve efficiency and service delivery.
The Minister added that several projects were underway to increase power generation capacity in the Ashanti Region as electricity demand continues to rise.
“Very soon we’re going to have over 1000 megawatts situated here in Kumasi, a strategic location,” he revealed.
Dr Jinapor therefore urged ECG workers to remain committed to the sector and warned against any attempt to undermine the electricity distribution system.