Parliament: ‘Stop using armed soldiers for prepaid installations’; Energy Minister summoned

Parliament has called for an immediate stop in the deployed of armed soldiers for the installation of prepaid meters in the Lower Manya Krobo communities of the Eastern region.

The directive to the Minister for Defence, Domnic Nitiwul follows concerns raised by Member of Parliament for the area, Ebenezer Okletey Terlabi on the floor of the house on Friday, June 24, 2022.

The MP who sounded passionate raised fears about possible violence following growing tension over what residents described as direct intimidation. Hon. Teye Larbi in his submission cited the killing of some indigenes with some left maimed. In seeking the Speaker’s intervention, he said his constituents do not understand why a special military attachment must be deployed to his area to fix prepaid meters.

After brief submissions by other MPs including Majority Leader, Hon Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and the Deputy Minority Leader, Hon James Klutse Avedzie, 2nd Deputy Speaker, Andrew Asiama Amoako, chaired proceedings, directed the Minister of Defense to as a matter of urgency, withdraw the military.

“We are also directing that, the Minister for Defence withdraws the military attaché in the area for the time being for us to address certain matters, I so direct.”…he stated

Parliament has also summoned the Minister of Energy, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh to also appear next week to brief the House on what necessitated the deployment.

The ECG has justified the use of military personnel during the exercise citing threats to its employees.

The deployment follows previous attempts at introducing prepaid meters in the enclave caused a rift between residents and workers of ECG, with a case where ECG officials were physically assaulted in the past.

By Afia Owusu/Myxyzonline.com|Ghana