The Kejetia market in Kumasi has been without power for three days due to a seven-million-cedi debt owed to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). The disconnection occurred after the market's management failed to adhere to a scheduled debt repayment plan, myjoyonline.com reports.
According to the ECG, the power cut is a direct result of the facility management's inability to meet the agreed-upon terms. However, traders at the market maintain that they have consistently paid their electricity bills to Kumasi City Markets Limited and are not responsible for the debt.
In April, the Kejetia Market faced a similar disconnection over a GH¢9.7 million debt. Power was restored after a repayment plan was negotiated between the parties. Four months later, the ECG asserts that the market has not fulfilled its financial obligations, leading to the current power outage.
Traders, who are growing increasingly frustrated, insist that they are not at fault and demand transparency regarding the source of the debt.
"We are not owing. If we were, you would have seen people crowded at where we pay the bills. We don’t owe any ECG debts. They should let us know where the debts are coming from," one trader said.
The Managing Director of Kumasi City Markets, Edmond Kofi Duffuor, confirmed that the company has been making efforts to settle the debt.
"Last June, we owed 4.9 million cedis from the original 7.2 million cedis. Between June and now, we’ve paid 3.1 million cedis from the bill that was presented to us, so it was only left with 2.0 million cedis. We’ve arranged with them that we will be paying 100,000 cedis every day," he explained.
Despite these efforts, traders are calling for a complete overhaul of the market's management, expressing dissatisfaction with the current leadership.
"We can see that the man cannot manage the market. He should resign so that we find another person to manage the affairs of the market. They are really making us suffer," an aggrieved trader stated.
NAY/OGB
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