Some residents of Nuaso in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality yesterday clashed with military personnel who accompanied staff of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to affix prepaid meters in their homes.
So far, eight persons, believed to be victims of the clashes, have received treatment at the St. Martin De Porres Hospital in Agormanya for suspected gunshot wounds.
According to reports, the clashes came about when some residents of the area refused to accept the prepaid meters.
It said some of the residents attempted pouring hot oil on personnel of the ECG and the military while others also threatened to inflict cutlass wounds on them if they tried to install the prepaid meters.
One resident also accused the military of beating her for refusing an order to escort them saying “the soldiers threatened further violence if they returned.
Following the clashes, Nuaso Old Town community was subsequently cut off from the national grid by the ECG.
Public Relations Officer of ECG Tema Region, Sakyiwaa Mensah, said power would only be restored when the residents allow the installation of the prepaid meters.
She indicated that work was smoothly going on in some parts of the Nuaso area and have begun their own investigations to ascertain the allegations and what actually transpired.
The Yilo and Manya Krobo municipalities have been without power for almost a month because of the impasse with ECG over the installation of the meters.
In June this year, residents of Nuaso in the Lower Krobo municipality in the Eastern Region, confronted the ECG workers and the military who tried to install prepaid meters in the area, forcing the soldiers to make a retreat.
Samuel Torgbor, the Assembly member for Nuaso electoral area, said the people were taken aback by the lack of consultation on the matter.
In response to the situation, the Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU) directed its members with the ECG in the Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo areas to boycott work until their security situation was improved.
A statement by the group said, PUWU was currently worried about signals from the youth of Kporwunor, Maadam, Nuasu Old town and Agbom communities in the Krobo District.
It would be recalled that the youth of these communities have been threatening the staff of ECG since 2019,” it said.
BY TIMES REPORTER
