The Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) has disconnected power to the District Magistrate Court ‘B’ in the Sunyani Municipality for non-payment of debt.
According to the Sunyani Area Manager of NEDCo, Mr. Francis Babereyir, the court owes an amount of GHC35,000, which forms part of the total amount of GHC87,000 owed by the judicial service in Sunyani.
Mr Babereyir revealed that the Company was told that the accounts of the courts are processed at a centralized place at the High Court. However, when NEDCo went there, the accountant could not tell the team why they have not been able to pay the remaining GHC35,000.
“They have been able to pay only GHC37,000 of their indebtedness and that is why we have come here and because they have not been able to settle the [GHC 35,000], that is why we have disconnected them.”
Francis Babereyir
Meanwhile, in the Upper East Region, VRA/NEDCo has disconnected the Bolgatanga Technical University from the national grid following the institution’s inability to settle its indebtedness over power consumed.
The University owes VRA/NEDCo an amount of GHC1,083,215 but only paid GHC50,000 on Tuesday, April 18. However, officials of VRA/ NEDCo indicated that the payment by the university was woefully inadequate and thus disconnected the institution.
Reacting to this, the Billing and Revenue Officer of VRA/NEDCo in the Upper East Area, Ing. Williams Asare, stated that they had engaged the university on a payment plan which it defaulted and paid only GHC50,000 of the total debt.
Similarly, the Upper East Regional Area Manager of VRA/NEDCo, Ign. Eugene Addo, disclosed that government agencies in the region owe the VRA well over GHC55 million and warned defaulting customers to settle their debts to avoid disconnection.
“Any customer who owes us is a target, and so we expect them to settle their indebtedness because our aim is not to disconnect customers but to collect our money and so anyone who doesn’t pay debts owed to us will be disconnected. Government agencies in the region owe us about GH¢55 million, and they are all part of the people we are targeting.”
Eugene Addo
NEDCo as part of a mass revenue mobilization exercise has been visiting some institutions in the Sunyani Municipality including the Sunyani Technical University, the Judicial Service Department and the University of Energy and Natural Resources.
NEDCo embarks on revenue mobilization April 18
Effective today, April 18, 2023, Northern Electricity Distribution Company Limited (NEDCo) has embarked on a general revenue mobilization exercise across its operational areas. The exercise would cover all categories of customers in arrears including state-owned enterprises, ministries, departments and agencies, and metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.
A statement issued by NEDCo in Tamale indicated that special security arrangements will be put in place to arrest and prosecute anyone, who interferes with the exercise.”
“Any person(s) identified to be engaged in illegal connections or reconnections will equally be dealt with in accordance with the law. Accordingly, NEDCo’s Head Office and area offices will be closed temporarily to allow for the full engagement of all staff, including top management, in this exercise.”
Northern Electricity Distribution Company Limited
NEDCo noted that customer service centres, zonal offices and third-party vendors would remain open to address customer concerns, including reconnections. Nonetheless, it stated that “recalcitrant customers’’, who had refused to redeem their indebtedness to the Company after they were served with demand notices, would be arraigned.
To this end, NEDCo entreated those in arrears to pay their bills immediately to avoid disconnection and payment of reconnection penalties. It called for cooperation from the public to ensure a successful exercise, bearing in mind that “we can only serve you well when you pay your bills”.
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