Former NDC Member of Parliament for the Lower Manya Krobo Constituency in the Eastern Region, Michael Teye Nyaunu has dismissed claims of an existing document that exempts Krobos from paying electricity bills after fifty years of the construction of the Akosombo hydroelectric dam.
Pressure group, the United Krobo Foundation (UKF) together with sections of Krobos have among other allegations claimed that there is an existing document signed between the Volta River Authority (VRA) and Krobos which exempts the latter from paying electricity bills after five decades.
This they claim was intended to appease the Krobo people after parts of their lands were ceded to the VRA for the construction of the Akosombo dam.
But dismissing the claims, Mr. Nyaunu who is currently the first Ghanaian deputy speaker of the ECOWAS parliament challenged those making the claim to avail the document for the perusal of the public.
“It’s not true. I totally disagree, it’s not true. So I’m challenging those who claim to have seen that document to bring it so we can all see it because I’m also educated,” asserted the former MP.
He furthered that even though he was a member of the Volta River Resettlement Fund Committee in parliament which exposed him to all the VRA resettlement towns nationwide, he never came across any agreement relieving the people of Yilo Krobo and Manya Krobo from honoring their bill obligations to the ECG.
“I have never seen that paper,” he stated.
Allegations have also been made by the protestors against the Konor of the Manya Krobo Traditional Area, Nene Sakite II, accusing him of having access to the agreement but refusing to make it available to the people.
But dismissing the claims, the four-term lawmaker who represented the constituency from 1997 to 2013 while vouching for the innocence of the Konor in this matter averred that the assertions could simply not be true.
“No such document is with the Konor. I don’t remember the last time I saw the Konor but I know he does not have any such document. The Konor is educated and if he had that document, he would avail it,” he said.
Condemnation of agitations against ECG
Mr. Michael Teye Nyaunu disagreed with the years of continuous protests, agitations and demonstrations against the ECG.
Describing the events as ‘shameful,’ the former legislator said the UKF, organizers of the demonstration failed to even present the petition of the demonstration to any government official.
“What is happening is shameful, very, very shameful. They are deceiving the people to the extent that people demonstrated from Somanya to Kpong (over 13km). Which government official did they present the petition to?” he queried.
He added: “I don’t support what is going on. Why must we use electricity and refuse to pay for it? We can’t say we no longer want to work with the ECG so they must leave. Can we sleep in the dark or can we afford a generator?”
Some of the youth groups and masses have also demanded the cancellation of all outstanding debt from 2014 till date, contrary to the ECG’s position that it can only ring-fence the 2014-2018 debt and offer flexible payment terms for the ‘clean’ 2018 to date bills.
However, he dismissed the demands of the youth groups and masses with the explanation that it was impossible for the Company to meet their demands.
"The ECG cannot cancel the bills up to date. Aren’t our own people working at the ECG? If we don’t pay our bills how are they going to pay them? Let’s set aside the controversial bills (2014-2017) but what we are consuming now must be paid so if they are calling for a total cancellation, I totally disagree,” he argued.
He also condemned the shootings which greeted the protests against the District Chief Executive for Lower Manya Krobo in 2018 over the mass disconnection exercise by the ECG which led to one death and several injuries.
Michael Teye Nyaunu, Former NDC Member of Parliament for the Lower Manya Krobo Constituency