The Manya Krobo traditional authority in the Eastern Region has condemned a recent demonstration by some youth of the area against state power distribution Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The youth group has been demanding that EC cancel all debts owed to the company in the past four years by the people in the area.
The youth claim their ancestors were promised free electricity when the country was building the Akosombo Dam, the country’s source of hydropower, on their land.
However, this claim has been denied by the Volta River Authority (VRA), operator of the 1,040 MW dam.
Last week, over 7,000 residents of Manya Krobo, led by the United Krobo Foundation, hit the streets to demand that ECG vacate the town.
They wanted the VRA to supply electricity to the area instead.
However, Nene Sakite I, Konor of Manya Krobo and President of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, has issued a statement saying nobody has the right to proclaim any ban on a legally constituted public establishment in Ghana from operating on Krobo land.
It said the activities of the group was a threat to national security, adding that during the past four years, the Manya Krobo Traditional Council engaged and advised the leaders to stop their nefarious activities against the state but they clandestinely continued to operate by inciting the public.
“It was through one of such demonstrations that a few innocent people lost their lives through their encounter with the police in 2019 in Somanya and Odumase, yet they could not relent,” it stated.
The Council, therefore, appealed to the national security apparatus to investigate the circumstances that led to the activities of the group and its leadership as well as their motives.
The Council described as false, the assertion from the leadership of the youth group that the chiefs of Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo purportedly signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Ghana for Krobos to start enjoying free electricity, 50 years after the construction of the Akosombo dam.
They also called on ECG to expedite the resolution of all outstanding issues with Krobo customers to bring sanity into the area.
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