It was one Tuesday afternoon when rain decided to pour down on the land of Accra. On my way back from town, I decided to stop over at the office of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). ECG? Yes. What was my mission there though?

I wasn’t going to buy credit for our prepaid meter and I was not gong to look for somebody. My mission there was simple. I went there to make a follow up enquiry on a complaint I had lodged.

Our prepaid meter had stopped working. Loading unit on it had become a real problem. Our meter was therefore running on the few units left on it. I spent time going to the office of ECG, yet, I received no proper response from them. Looking at the faces of the workers could even put you off, since their facial expressions were not welcoming.

After following up on my complaint for well over 4 days but with no positive response from them, I thought that rainy day would be a blessing day for me. I got to the office of ECG, and to my surprise, they had LIGHT OUT. “Am I dreaming?”, I questioned myself.

Down the pavement, I walked to the office where I’ve always lodged my complaint. According to them, they wouldn’t be able to work on my meter if there was no light. I rhetorically asked, “Do you experience light out here too?” A worker responded, “Yes oo, you don’t know.” Since he answered, I decided to ask him when they (ECG) were going to have light. He responded, “I don’t even know. I suggest you go and come back later because I’m not sure it will come back now.” Really?

As angry as I was, I left the scene and went back home laughing. The question that has being running through my head ever since is; “How can ECG, the name behind electricity in Ghana, as they put it, not have light? What assurance do I have that I’m going to get light when the one supplying the power does not have light itself. This points out to the fact that Ghanaians cannot rely on ECG for efficient power supply. As for the frequent “Dumsor Dumsor” in our homes, I don’t even want to go there.

“We are a company whose mission is to provide quality, reliable and safe electricity services to support the socio-economic growth and development of Ghana” I read this mission statement of Electricity Company of Ghana and I laughed out loud to myself.

Will ECG ever improve in its operations and service to Ghanaians? This is my story, to you; you might have been satisfied with their services. What is your story?