Workers of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) and the Volta River Authority (VRA) in Tamale have withdrawn their services over safety concerns following an attack on the offices by some residents last Saturday.
The staff contends that the attack has heightened their fears and that they cannot risk their lives working in the area; as a result, they are unwilling to carry out any duties that will take them outside the precincts of the company.
Chairman of the Senior Staff Association (SSA) of NEDCo and VRA in Tamale, William K. Asare who spoke on Eyewitness News said, the decision was arrived at after an emergency staff meeting.
“Following the attacks on Saturday, staff of VRA and NEDCo met, and the resolution at the end of the meeting is that we don’t feel safe to go out there and carry out our work. So for the fear of our lives, we are unable to attend to any job that will take us outside the premises.”
Over the weekend, part of the NEDCo offices in Tamale was vandalized by some angry youth in protest of the supposed frequent brutalization of residents by police officers in the metropolis.
The protesters marched through some principal streets of Tamale to the company and destroyed some properties of the power distribution company.
But following the unfortunate incident, the NEDCo workers say any work activity that will be at the peril of their lives has been suspended indefinitely.
“For example, if there is a power outage somewhere, and we have to go and repair the fault, visit a station to repair the fault, we are unable to do so for fear of our dear life. But any job that we have to do in the office, we will be able to do that.”
Meanwhile, the management of NEDCo says it is really disturbed over the recent happenings.
It said, more worrying is a circulating audio disclosing planned attempts to abduct some staff members of the company.
Corporate Communications Manager of NEDCo, Mr. Maxwell Kotoka is however optimistic about finding solutions to the situation.
“An Audio emerged today. In that audio, the voice is heard calling on indigenes to kidnap NEDCo staff. Our staff live in the community with the people, so if this is what is being dropped, then the problem is obviously more than what we are looking at. Management is very concerned. We were engaging until this audio emerged today. We haven’t given up, we will still engage.”
Recently, a video circulated on social media in which some police officers were manhandling some residents suspected to have engaged in illegal power connections.
It received wide condemnation from the public, traditional authorities, and civil society organizations in the Northern Region.
Residents who were outraged over the development called on the leadership of the Ghana Police Service to take punitive actions against its personnel over their actions.
Subsequently, the police personnel involved were interdicted pending investigations.
NEDCo also apologized to its customers who were assaulted by officers
