The Minister of Defence has been ordered to stop the use of soldiers for the installation of prepaid meters in Kroboland.
The directive was given by the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Accra today.
Member of Parliament for the area, Ebenezer Okletey Terlabi raised the matter on the floor of the house on Friday, June 24, 2022, indicating that the presence of the military men is heightening tensions in the community.
“We are also directing that, the Minister for Defence withdraws the military attaché in the area for the time being for us to address certain matters, I so direct.”
The ECG has justified the use of military personnel during the exercise.
The deployment was because previous attempts at introducing prepaid meters in the enclave caused a rift between residents and workers of ECG, with a case where ECG officials were physically assaulted in the past.
The soldiers are assisting the ECG with the installation of new prepaid meters following months of hostility between residents and the ECG over the payment of electricity bills.
Recently, some of the residents of Kroboland demonstrated against the installation of prepaid meters.
According to the group, prepaid meters cannot be accepted in the area while there is an unresolved impasse over billing.
The group told the media that ECG must scrap all outstanding arrears of customers in the Krobo area and sit with the people on the way forward.
The group is therefore demanding that “prepaid metering within the Krobo states must stop immediately”.
He said Krobos were not paid compensation when Akosombo and Kpone dams were constructed also the VRA Resettlement fund is not being utilized to the benefit of the affected Communities hence must be investigated.
Sompaonline.com offers its reading audience with a comprehensive online source for up-to-the-minute news about politics, business, entertainment and other issues in Ghana