Et tu PURC?

For once, I am removing my timidity cloak as a Ghanaian and would be brutally frank. I am writing this piece with a China-made torchlight at 2 a.m. and I’m sad as I reflect on the way we have managed the affairs of this nation over the years.

As I rolled from one side of my bed to the other without even a wink as a result of the intense heat occasioned by power outage, I began questioning our relationship as Ghanaians with the regulator who is supposed to seek our welfare in our dealings with utility providers.

The Public Utilities Regulations Commission (PURC) was set up by Act 538 to regulate and oversee the provision of utility services by public utilities to consumers and to provide for related matters.

Since its inception, some of us are yet to be convinced as to whether there is really a need for such a body. Though there have been sporadic calls for the regulator to be scrapped, such calls have not attained nation-wide status. 

But coming on the back of recent power outages and the PURC’s claim that it has no business with us in this, I think the time to rethink its very existence is now. 

First of all, we need to do a cost benefit analysis to find out for instance how much of the Ghanaian taxpayers’ money goes into servicing PURC, by way of payment of emoluments and provision of logistic support. And what do we get in return? Zilch .  

Whether the current power crisis is due to inadequate gas supply and not a quality issue is neither here nor there. Are we supposed to carry our individual gas cylinders to deposit gas in the plant before we get uninterrupted power?

This reminds me of a certain man who without invitation imposed himself on us as our head of state and kept lamenting that he was not God to provide rains, yet we kept mentioning his name when the heavens did not open up. Until he became the head of state, were we complaining to him about lack of rains? 

What is even surprising is the lead role the PURC played in getting us to succumb to the demand to pay over 100 per cent increment in utility bills a few months ago. The PURC made use of every available platform convincing Ghanaians about the need to pay the new prices with a strong promise to ensure that we get value for our money. Among other arguments, we were told that the said money will enable utility providers to replace obsolete equipment! 

Sadly, we did not even have to wait long and we are back to square one. This time we are being told that it is because of erratic gas supplies from Nigeria. Is Nigeria the only country under the sun which produces gas? Have we not employed people to ensure that these things do not happen?

My personal losses in connection with power outages have been huge and I know I am not alone in this. Living in an area that is yet to have pipe-borne water, I have been compelled to construct a mechanised borehole, though I pay taxes like some Ghanaians. 

Over the last three years, I have had to change three pumps at a whopping GH¢1800. I have lost three television sets and two refrigerators to dumsor dumsor and yet my taxes keep servicing an organisation that is supposed to ensure that such things do not happen.

I know that I may be stepping on more than a few toes, especially since what I am calling for borders on the very survival of some families but I would rather we pay them monthly and ask them to remain at home rather than the current arrangement which actually borders on insulting our intelligence.

What happened to promises that with the Bui Dam operational and so so and so megawatts coming on stream, our energy woes would be over? 

The Ghanaian’s penchant to remain quiet in the face of all manner of provocations has turned him to some kind of football that is kicked about by everybody, any how. So politicians are kicking us about, mallams and pastors are kicking us about and hitting us with crowbars and now the PURC, an organisation we set up with our own money to seek our wellbeing, is also kicking us about! Indeed, this is the unkindest kick of them all!

The writer is Head of Public Relations and Protocol of the University of Cape Coast and a retired Senior Military Officer

Writer’s E-mail: kofikofi1977@hotmail.com