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ECG to boycott Ashanti Regional Minister over arrest of General Manager
Employees of the Ashanti Regional branch of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) have announced their intention to hoist red flags in their offices across the nation starting today, in a bid to prompt an apology from the Regional Minister.
The move comes after allegations that the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, played a role in the arrest of their General Manager, Ing. Mark Wiafe Asumani, following a power outage at the Kumasi Technical University.
Mr. Asumani was subsequently released on self-recognizance bail.
In an interview with Citi News, National Vice Chairman of the Senior Staff Association for ECG, Bismark Adomah, said all meetings with the Ashanti regional minister will be boycotted unless he apologises.
He said, “Everyone in ECG is wearing red and hoisting the red flag. And secondly, we have also instructed our four general managers not to attend any meeting called by the regional minister.”
“The invitation of the letter will let us know whether he is calling to apologise and if the invitation doesn’t state that, we will not attend the meeting. Yesterday, the NEC met and took the decision which has been communicated to all our members throughout the country,” he said.
Sources: Citinewsroom.com
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
