Ghana: NEDCo Staff Living In Fear As Tamale Youth Threaten Them With Kidnapping

Employees of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) in Tamale in the northern part of Ghana say they are insecure and living in fear.

This follows last Saturday’s attack on their offices by some youth of the town.

According to the staff, their fears have been heightened by threats by some youth of Tamale on social media that they would kidnap NEDCo workers if they go to their homes to collect electricity bills or are seen in town.

“It looks like Tamale residents want to use electricity but do not want to pay. Any attempt to have them pay only attracts threats and beatings, so we the workers here say we are tired; our lives are essential, so we are not safe to go out there and work,” Mr William K. Asare, chairman of the Senior Staff Association (SSA) of NEDCo, said on an Accra-based Adom FM on Wednesday.

Mr Asare, who expressed worry over the recent attack on NEDCo, said: “As of Tuesday, September 28, they [residents] were on social media insisting that if we come, they will beat us, they will kill us.’’

He said they are no longer going to town to collect electricity bills because they need to protect their lives.
“It is as if we are waiting for Tamale residents to beat up a VRA staff to death before they realise this is a serious issue,” he lamented.

Mr Asare wants the residents to know that “our job is to sell electric power so when we sell, we have to retrieve the monies,” lamenting that “every month, the company loses 45 per cent [Gh¢8.5 million]” as a result of illegal connections.