Ghana: ECG Unions Set Sept. 29 Protest over Private Sector Plan

Workers' unions at Ghana's state-owned Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) have set September 29 for a nationwide demonstration against a proposed private sector participation (PSP) arrangement for the utility, to be followed by a petition to President John Dramani Mahama.

The peaceful demonstration will take place across ECG's operational regions, according to a statement signed by National Divisional Chairman Christopher Apawu and Junior Staff Union National Divisional Chairman Lucky Larry Agboka.

The unions said the petition would be presented to regional ministers in their respective areas for onward transmission to the president.

The demonstration is scheduled to run from 0800 GMT to 1600 GMT, with workers in Accra assembling at the forecourt of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and those in Kumasi gathering at the ECG regional office at the Airport Roundabout.

Workers in other regions will assemble at their respective ECG regional offices, with demonstration routes to be announced later. Participants will return to their assembly points for a briefing before dispersing.

Cabinet's plan follows a failed 2018 attempt

The Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU), which is convening the demonstration, has notified Ghana's Inspector General of Police of its intention to organise the protest under Section 1(2) of the Public Order Act, 1994.

The action forms part of a wider campaign the unions announced earlier this month, during which workers have worn red armbands as a visible sign of protest.

The current PSP plan is not Ghana's first attempt to bring in private management of ECG.

In 2018, following a competitive bidding process tied to a $498 million grant from the US-backed Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the government awarded a 20-year concession to Power Distribution Services (PDS), a consortium led by the Manila Electric Company, to operate ECG's distribution network in southern Ghana while the state retained ownership of the underlying assets.

That concession collapsed within about eight months, after a forensic audit found PDS had submitted invalid payment security and misrepresented insurance and performance bonds it had provided to secure the deal, and the government terminated the agreement in 2019.

Cabinet endorsed a new concession and public-private partnership framework in April last year, once again structured so the state retains ownership of ECG while private operators would run specific functions, rather than pursuing an outright sale.

According to reports on the process, the initiative is being pursued alongside the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and is aimed at addressing ECG's persistent commercial and technical losses, the gap between the electricity the utility distributes and the revenue it actually collects.

A government adviser has indicated the arrangement could formally begin by early 2027, with preparatory restructuring due to be completed before the end of this year.

Unions argue ECG's own reforms are already working

Labour groups have pushed back on the timeline and the rationale behind it.

The TUC has said it will pursue all available means to oppose the plan, while clarifying this does not include legal action through the courts, and PUWU described the process as rushed when it first raised objections in December.

Union leaders argue that ECG's own internal turnaround efforts have already improved revenue collection and reduced system losses, and that the utility should be allowed to continue that work rather than bring in a private operator.

The stakes extend beyond ECG's workforce.

When the utility fails to collect enough revenue to cover the cost of purchasing power from generators and paying the Ghana Grid Company for transmission, the resulting shortfall contributes to a chronic sector-wide debt burden that has, in the past, translated into unreliable electricity supply for Ghanaian households and businesses, an outcome both supporters and opponents of private sector participation say they want to avoid, even as they disagree sharply on how to get there.