Krobo youth in tussle with chiefs over payment for electricity use

Some youth groups in the Yilo and the Manya Krobo districts in the Eastern Region are in a tussle with their chiefs over a purported document that supposedly exempts the people of Kroboland from paying electricity bills.

While the youth groups insist that there exists a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the chiefs that makes electricity free for the area, the chiefs have denied the existence of any such document.

The MoU, the youth claim, was signed after the construction of the Akosombo Dam and it contained a clause that exempted Krobo lands and other areas within 27 miles radius of the dam from paying electricity bills.

On October 12, 2017, tens of the youth staged demonstrations in Somanya and other Krobo communities, demanding the MoU from their traditional rulers.

Clad in black and chanting war-like songs, the youth had called on the chiefs to suspend the Kloyosikplemi Festival of Yilo Krobo and the Ngmayem Festival of Manya Krobo and use the period to locate the MoU as well as address other hardships affecting them.

Chiefs not aware

But the Paramount Chief of the Manya Krobo Traditional Area, Nene Sakite II, said he was not aware of the existence of that document.

Speaking at the 2017 Ngmayem Festival at Odumase Krobo, Nene Sakite denied any knowledge of such an MoU and called on anybody in possession of it to make it available in order for him to act on it.

“I would like to take this opportunity to categorically declare that Nene Konor is not aware of such an MoU. I, therefore, urge whoever has knowledge of this agreement to let me in on it and I will swiftly act on it,’’ he said.

He, however, appealed to the VRA and the government to help create employment opportunities in the area.

VRA not aware

Meanwhile, checks at the VRA did not yield any proof of the supposed MoU.

 The Corporate Communications Manager of the authority, Mrs Gertrude N. Koomson, told the media in Accra that she was not aware of any MoU that exempted Krobo lands from the payment of electricity bills.

She explained that the VRA had records of all the compensation and resettlement packages for all those affected by the construction of the dam, but “we do not have any records exempting the people of Krobo land from paying electricity bills”.

“I am not aware of any MoU; if the youth groups have it, they should bring it up. We want to know the signatories, the year it was signed and the venue, so that we can start from somewhere,’’ she said.

Youth groups adamant

But the youth groups insist that the MoU exists and that the chiefs and the VRA have connived to hide it.

According to Mr Joshua Ogborjor, the Spokesperson for the Concerned Krobo Youth, the MoU was signed between the chiefs of Krobo and the VRA and witnessed by Dr Kwame Nkrumah in 1963.

“The MoU clearly states that Krobo people should not pay electricity bills due to the havoc the construction of the dam had on us,’’ he claimed.

When asked if he had seen the MoU, Mr Ogborjor insisted that he had reliably been informed of its existence and that his group would make a copy public by November 15, 2017.

Writer’s email: emma.hawkson@graphic.com.gh