Govt releases GH¢5m to settle ECG arrears of Senior High Schools

An amount of GH¢5 million has been released by the government to settle arrears owed by Second Cycle institutions, sources within the Electricity Company of Ghana have disclosed to Citi News.

This move follows the recent power disconnection to Accra Academy by the ECG national task force due to a GH¢400,000 debt.

The disconnection left students in darkness, necessitating the use of torchlights to study.

In response to this situation, the Free SHS Secretariat has taken notice and authorized the payment of the outstanding arrears.

Meanwhile, Citi News checks at Accra Academy revealed that power has yet to be restored to the school.

A teacher, who requested anonymity, mentioned that some on-campus teachers also faced disconnection. Importantly, the teacher clarified that the school is not directly responsible for settling the debt, and they are unaware of the specific amount owed to the power distribution company.

In an interview with Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show on Citi FM, Paul Agraga, the head of prosecution at ECG, explained that the disconnection is part of an ongoing initiative to recover outstanding payments owed to the company.

“Normally, we have a team that goes around once a while to inform our customers of their debts so they do not accumulate and so if you take Accra Academy for example, they owe in excess of GH¢400,000 to the ECG.”

He further explained and dismissed allegations that the ECG is deliberately targeting the school and stressed that the company also owes its partners which it has to pay.

“We did not specifically target Accra Academy, it is an ongoing operation we are conducting, and a number of homes, businesses, and institutions have also suffered the same fate.

“The no-free consumption does not discriminate at all and once you owe, you will be disconnected. It does not matter whether it is Parliament or a security service because we also owe people that we have to pay.”