Ghanaians have expressed shock and surprise at the news that they are subsidising VALCO’s electricity consumption to the tune of about ¢1.41 trillion as published by the Ghana Palaver of Tuesday, August 8. In an interview with a section of the public, some expressed surprise that the ECG could break the laws of the land by secretly increasing its tariffs, without passing through the laid-down process.

They were also surprised to find the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), exercising a “golden silence” on this issue, unless the Commission was itself part of the “conspiracy”.

A Civil Servant who was also reacting to the story, wondered whether the illegal increases had been a regular practice in the past, the kind, which made parents jump on their little children and “disciplined” them for misusing electricity, in their (parents) absence

A worker of the ECG, who claimed he was not aware of the “secret deal” to extract illegal fees from the people to make up for the excess power consumed by VALCO, said his employers could have made the deal known to the consuming public, if their intentions were genuine and clear.

He called on the Government to come out with a statement on the issue, since it might have engineered the whole “secret taxation” to cushion the problems of VALCO.

Indeed, the Government had assured the nation of VALCO’s viability on the resumption of its operations and even given an indication of the company boosting the economy, in no time, instead of its being a liability. A Lawyer the Ghana Palaver spoke to recalled the “noise” made by Ministers like Nana Akufo Addo and Paa Kwesi Nduom, who saw Ghana, in no time, processing bauxite and producing aluminium, both for local consumption and export. If it is the case that Ghanaians are to bear part of the production costs, secretly, then the Ghanaian worker will even have to spend all his income on electricity bills, he said, adding “God save Ghana”.

A Tema truck-driver said he would have to go and apologise to his wife for blaming her any time the electricity bills went up.

With the ECG, empowering itself to smuggle bills from one end to the other, “everything could go!” he added.

Owners of establishments, who are finding it difficult to cope with high electricity tariffs, could not understand why the government should be favouring some establishment over others, and called on the government to create a level playing field for all in the economy so they can all play their roles as Ghanaians and entrepreneurs to help build a viable economy for the people of Ghana.