How Much And How Long Does It Take To Get A Prepaid Meter

Not too long ago, it takes months and sometimes almost a year for one to acquire a mobile phone Sim card, despite paying huge sums of money, until the telecommunication sector was liberalized.

Today Vodafone, which used to be Ghana Telecom, is playing second fiddle to some other telecommunication companies.

Ghacem, used to be the sole producer and distributor of cement in this country for a very long time, the company held monopoly over pricing.
Today, they are complaining that, cheap imported cements are crowding them out.

It used to be an arduous task for one to open a bank account and be issued with a cheque book or ATM card.

Today, all that can be done just within an hour of opening a new bank account.

In all the above examples and many that we cannot outline here, the final consumer is the beneficiary of freeing the market to allow private players in the various sectors of the economy.

Managers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), instead of rallying their workers to learn from industry practice, as it exist in other parts of the world, are rather inciting the workers to declare unnecessary strike actions against the intended privatization of the power distributor.

The corruption involved in applying for a meter is mind boggling, some officers of the ECG; frustrate customers, to the extent of compromising oneself, just because one has no choice.

There is no way, we can be convinced that, those at the top, do not know what goes on at the various district offices.

Surprisingly, Ghanaians from all political traditions are in agreement with the government’s decision to privatize ECG, if anything at all, they are not happy about the snail pace manner in which the process is being handled.

Mangers of ECG, should pay a particular attention to the ECG at Legon, some workers there, have turned themselves into ‘Goro Boys’ and are ripping customers off.

Previous mangers of ECG, have left a legacy, which is commendable and one of such, is the dispatch with which they attend to customer complaints, when one calls their hotline.

The current Managing Director, whose appointment was welcomed with protest, must endeavor to leave something behind and that is making the acquisition of meters hassle free.

The Public Utility and Regulatory Commission (PURC), which is supposed to play the role of a match commissioner, between the referee which is the
government, and the two opposing teams, consumers and ECG, has also become a toothless bulldog, only playing to the advantage of ECG.

It shouldn’t take more than a week to genuinely acquire a meter; after all it is not free and beside customers, are not going to use it for decoration.

ECG, is the most mentioned state institution in this country, not for its good work, but for the actions and attitude of its workers.
No one is standing in solidarity with them, because Ghanaians, believe the private man, will run the place better.