Don’t leave energy in private hands: It's major national security issue - PSWU kicks against private participation in electricity distribution

The Public Services Workers’ Union (PSWU), an affiliate of the Trades Union Congress (Ghana), has said electricity and its supply remain a national security issue which must be preserved by a public mandate rather than handed to the whims of a profit-oriented private sector participant.

The General Secretary of the union, Bernard Adjei, has consequently called for the immediate suspension of the proposed private sector participation (PSP) in the operations of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) and the commencement of inclusive, transparent dialogue with staff groups of NEDCo and Volta River Authority (VRA) on the issue.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic on the government’s proposed PSP arrangement in NEDCo’s operations, Mr Adjei said the PSWU was aligned with the contents of a petition raised by the VRA/NEDCo staff groups in opposition to the proposal.

He said such arrangements carried far-reaching consequences that sometimes impacted the jobs and welfare of company staff, and could, therefore, not be treated lightly.

“We call for tariff rationalisation, direct government investment in infrastructure, protection of workers’ rights,” the staff groups said in a communication addressed to the Minister of Energy and Green Transition, portions of which have been sighted by the Daily Graphic.

“We reject the PSP being imposed without genuine consultation with workers of VRA/NEDCo,” the groups said, insisting also that “the proposed Multiple Lease Model of PSP in the Guiding Framework” had no globally tested precedent.

“Furthermore, there are no benchmarks for governance, risk identification, mitigation and performance pointers,” it said.

Objection to PSP

The Daily Graphic is reliably informed that the VRA and NEDCo staff groups have submitted a petition to the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition to discourage the government from going ahead with a proposed private sector participation in the power distribution chain in the NEDCo area.

The staff groups insist that NEDCo, in its current operating structure, has braved the odds in the midst of financial constraints and under-funding in an area where the company serves a social good rather than to generate profit.

NEDCo operates across 64 per cent of Ghana's land mass, covering Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Savanna, North East, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions, and some parts of Western North, Oti and Ashanti.

The area has low customer density, with 39 per cent of the customer base being lifeline consumers whose revenue contribution, according to the communication, does not cover basic power procurement costs.

These realities notwithstanding, the groups said, recent performance improvements such as the 7.99 percentage-point reduction in losses in the Tamale metropolis alone were a demonstration that “targeted interventions by the existing workforce can yield tangible results”. 

Operations

Indeed, an operation against illegal power connection at Kalpohini and Kukuo, both in the Tamale metropolis, on April 20 and 21 this year, identified and disconnected a combined 270 power theft cases in the two areas.

The cases included meter bypassing and damaged meters.                

“This proves that solutions lie in strengthening the public utility, not dismantling it.

The majority of NEDCo operational areas are performing well in relation to regulatory performance benchmarks,” the petition to the Energy Minister said. 

It added that the Sunyani, Techiman, and Upper West areas showed strong financial performances in 2025, with very good collection rates ranging from 91 per cent to over 100 per cent.

On the other hand, it said, the Northern Area collection rate was 80.96 per cent, largely due to “the limited staff and resources directed at curbing power theft in Tamale”.

“The Upper East Area posted a moderate 89.14 per cent collection rate, but this masks severe underlying issues, as the conflict in Bawku has rendered staff unable to embark on both loss reduction and revenue mobilisation activities” during the last year, the petition added. 

Forex, inflation

“NEDCo’s operations are heavily impacted by foreign exchange fluctuations and high inflation,” the petition said.

“Since many of NEDCo’s key expenditure lines, such as distribution equipment and materials, are priced in foreign currency, any depreciation of the Ghanaian cedi increases their costs.

At the same time, inflation raises local expenses like fuel, materials and network maintenance,” it said  

“Together, these pressures reduce the company’s purchasing power, strain cash-flow, and make long-term planning difficult, since its revenue is largely collected in local currency while costs continue to rise,” the petition stated.

“How would handing over NEDCo to a PSP address these challenges?” the local union questioned.