By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
Workers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), in the Ashanti region took their litigation with the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, a notch higher when they boycotted his ceremonial address in Kumasi during the May Day celebration in Kumasi.
The ECG unionised staff spontaneously stood up and walked away from the Jubilee Park, where the Workers’ Durbar was being held, as soon as the MC invited the Regional Minister to the podium to address the workers who had gathered there to commemorate this year’s Workers’ Day.
They displayed their messages on various placards, expressing their displeasure about the posture of Mr. Osei Mensah towards workers of the power distribution company in recent times. Among the messages were ‘Allow our General Managers to Work without Interference’ and ‘KsTU is Not a Security Zone’.
Speaking to GBC later, the Ashanti East Regional Union Chairman, Osman Yussif, explained that until the National Executives Committee of the Union rescinds the collective decision not to have anything to do with the Regional Minister, workers of ECG in the region will continue to shun any official relationship with him.
Touching on recent allegations by Mr. Osei Mensah against the workers and ECG, the Ashanti East Union Chairman disclosed that plans are in place to formally respond to him.
The Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei Mensah and the ECG in Ashanti have been at each other’s throat in recent days following Mr. Osei Mensah’s arrest of one of the Regional General Managers of the ECG after the ECG attempted to disconnect Kumasi Technical University from the national grid for allegedly owing for the power consumed over a period of time.
This, the Regional Minister explained, was because the ECG management had reneged on their earlier agreement with him to alert him anytime they were to disconnect any state-owned organisation for indebtedness to the power distributor.
