The Deputy Secretary-General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Dr Kwabenya Nyarko, has rejected claims that private or foreign capital is needed to revive the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), insisting that workers, working with government, can turn the company around without privatisation.
His comments follow a disclosure by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that ECG is expected to be taken over by a private sector operator as part of ongoing energy sector reforms.
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Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Monday, December 29, Dr Nyarko said workers of the Public Utilities Workers’ Union (PUWU) and ECG are prepared to “go the extra mile” to rescue the power distributor, describing current efforts as only the beginning.
He said recent collaboration between workers and government has already resulted in significant revenue gains within a short period, demonstrating that ECG can recover without private sector involvement.
“If in five months, by working together as a team with government, we have been able to raise revenue to such a significant level, then it means we have shown that we can do it,” he stated.
Dr Nyarko assured that labour unions are ready to implement additional measures with government to safeguard ECG as a strategic national asset, stressing that privatisation is neither inevitable nor necessary.
He further argued that claims about foreign investors bringing capital have often been used to push Ghana into privatisation deals that fail to deliver expected benefits. He cited the privatisation of Ghana Telecom, later Vodafone and now Telecel, noting that despite promises of capital injection, technology transfer and job creation, about 4,000 jobs were lost.
According to him, such promises frequently serve as bait for privatisation, while the anticipated investments fail to materialise.
