‘Your job is to be engineers, not politicians’ — Energy Minister tells ECG staff
The Minister of Energy and Green Transition, Dr John Abdulai Jinapor, has cautioned engineers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) against politicising their work, warning that acts of negligence and sabotage within the power sector would not be tolerated.
Addressing four regional managers, 21 district managers and engineers of ECG in the Ashanti Region, Dr Jinapor stressed that workers in the energy sector owed their allegiance to Ghana and not to any political party.
“Your job is that of an engineer and not a politician. You cannot be a politician. That’s why I say if you want to be a politician, you exit,” he said.
According to the Minister, the inability of ECG to consistently deliver quality, safe and stable power supply due to what he described as deliberate negligence by some engineers had damaged the image of the energy sector.
He said his responsibility as sector minister was to ensure discipline, dedication and commitment among staff to guarantee reliable electricity supply to citizens.
Dr Jinapor noted that beyond public criticism directed at government during periods of power outages, ECG also suffered revenue losses from power that had been paid for but remained unused.
He urged district managers and other officials to improve their performance, describing them as the public face of the company.
“You are the face of the ECG. If the managers don’t work well, it tarnishes the image of the company,” he stated.
The Minister disclosed that the Energy Ministry and the Energy Commission were establishing a command and control centre aimed at improving service delivery through the use of modern technology.
He explained that the system would track response times, monitor transformers and improve communication between citizens and ECG officials.
As part of the initiative, managers will be provided with new mobile phones connected to the system to ensure prompt reporting and response to faults and complaints.
“The main issue is the time of response. The centre is not just for updates, it’s also to track transformers as well,” he said.
Dr Jinapor added that a dedicated short code and contact number would soon be introduced to allow citizens to directly report power-related challenges.
He also announced plans to distribute electronic motorcycles and pickup trucks to ECG district offices to support operational mobility and improve response efficiency.
According to him, the Ministry was intentionally equipping ECG with the necessary tools to improve service delivery across the country.
Dr Jinapor warned that managers and engineers would be held accountable for failures in providing quality and stable electricity supply.
He further revealed that several projects were underway to increase power generation capacity in the Ashanti Region as demand continued to grow.
“Very soon we’re going to have over 1000 MW situated here in Kumasi, a strategic location,” he said.
The Minister therefore urged ECG workers to give their best to the sector and cautioned them against any attempt to undermine the system.
Source: GNA
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