Two groups, Arise Youth and Concerned Youth of Salaga in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region have staged a peaceful demonstration against the erratic power supply in Salaga and its environs in the East Gonja municipality.

Ibrahim Anyass, convenor for the groups, lamented that for more than seven months, residents of Salaga have been without reliable supply of electricity.

He said despite the fact that the supply of power has been erratic for more than seven months, electricity consumers in Salaga are grappling with increases in their bills from the power distributers.

"Because we, the youth, and, by extension, the people of Salaga, are very peaceful and law-abiding, NEDCO/VRA have taken us for granted,", Mr. Anyass complained.

He noted that if no action is taken to avert this degeneration of power supply, the people of Salaga may be compelled to take drastic action against the power providers.

The group gave a 14-working-day ultimatum, noting that if no favorable action is taken, they will organize another demonstration on the 1st of October, 2022.

The demonstrators presented a petition which was received by the Municipal Coordinating Director, Chief Ibn Zakaria Wumbei on behalf of the Municipal Chief Executive, Richard Broni who was out of town.

Below are deails of their petition:

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA,

JUBILEE HOUSE,

KANDA ACCRA.

Dear Sir,

PETITION BY THE CONCERN YOUTH OF SALAGA ON THE ERRATIC POWER SUPPLY IN THE EAST GONJA MUNICIPAL

1. Mr. President, we bring you warm greetings from the ancient town of Salaga. This petition is reaching you from the quarters of Concern Youth of Salaga for regular supply of electricity. This group of youths is non-political, where you can find all political actors from both NPP and NDC.

2. Mr. President, the people of East Gonja Municipality have been grappling with the issue of erratic power supply since the beginning of this year and the agency in charge of making sure this issue is resolve appears unconcern.

3. Mr. President, it is in your own interest respectfully, to know that in the last seven or more months residents of Salaga and its environs in the East Gonja Municipality have been suffering in silence because of the epileptic power supply and shockingly bloated billings.

4. Mr. President, despite the fact that the supply of power has been erratic in the last seven months, electricity consumers in Salaga are grappling with increases in their billings from the power producer.

5. Mr. President, the erratic power supply spanning several months remains unpredictable, unannounced and this is affecting households and businesses in the Municipality. Household electrical appliances have been destroyed and several SMEs been closed down due to this irregular supply of power.

6. Mr. President, we the youth and by extension the people of Salaga are very peaceful and law abiding and because of this, NEDCO/VRA have taken the good people for granted. However, if no cogent action is taken to avert this degeneration of power supply, the good people of Salaga may be compelled to take drastic action against the power company-VRA.

Recommendations

7. In the interim, we recommend that, the Minister of Energy should instruct VRA, to dedicate officers at Chamba in the Nanumba North District, purposely for fault identification and reporting especially in this rainy season.

8. We also recommend that in the medium to long term, a sub-station should be established in the East Gonja Municipal to serve Salaga and its environs. This in our candid view will reduce the load on the main transmission line traveling from Yendi through Bimbilla.

9. In the long term, we recommend that the East Gonja Municipal should be connected to the national grid from Fufulso which is 40km away from Salaga in the Central Gonja District of Savannah Region which draws its power from the Bui Dam project for reliable supply of power.

10. Finally, Mr. President we humbly request that an immediate solution must be brought to this epileptic power supply to the good people of Salaga and its environs.

Thank you.

Ibrahim Anyass - Convener

Haruna Muntala - Convener  

Cc: The President of Ghana

Minister of Energy

Savannah Regional Minister

The Kpembewura

MCE for East Gonja

Member of Parliament (Salaga South)