Management of Kumasi City Markets, operator of the Kejetia market in Kumasi, has confirmed to the Business & Financial Times (B&FT) that its outstanding debt to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) currently stands at GH¢1.6million.
This figure contradicts earlier reports suggesting the debt was only GH¢400,000.
According to Manager-Kumasi City Markets Ltd., Kofi Duffour, as at end-January 2025 the facility owed a total of approximately GH¢2.8million – of which they have managed to settle a little over GH¢1.2million.
He explained that the facility’s regular monthly electricity bill exceeds GH₵1million. However, due to non-payment by some traders, management has been unable to fully settle these bills.
Mr. Duffour stated that management has been steadily clearing its debts through a payment arrangement with ECG over the years, noting that the outstanding balance now stands at approximately GH¢1.6million.
“The monthly electricity bill exceeds GH¢1million, so if we owed only GH¢400,000 it wouldn’t be a significant debt,” Mr. Duffour explained.
“As at the end of January, our debt stood at approximately GH¢2.8million. We have since paid over GH¢1.2million, reducing the outstanding balance to between GH¢1.4million and GH¢1.6million which is covered under a payment plan. Initially, we had a debt of GH¢23million which has been fully cleared. Just last year, we paid over GH¢10million.”
Traders demand personal meters
Public Relations Officer of the Kumasi City Market Traders Union (KCMTU), Emmanuel Kwarteng, expressed concerns in an interview with B&FT that the huge debt could result in ECG disconnecting the market from the national grid.
He also criticised the way electricity bills are distributed among traders, pointing out that about one-third of the accumulated debt comes from approximately 554 shops that are either unoccupied or non-operational.
“These debts include outstanding amounts from non-operational shops that continue to be billed despite remaining closed. Around 554 shops fall into this category. Some have been closed since the market opened, yet they are still billed. This accounts for about one-third of the total debt, while the rest is due to traders who fail to pay their bills regularly,” he said.
To address the issue, Mr. Kwarteng proposed long-term solutions including installing individual meters for each shop and transitioning to solar power.
“Last year, Kumasi City Markets advised all traders to acquire their own meters. If every shop had its own meter, it would prevent this problem. Additionally, we need to add solar power to reduce reliance on ECG, as electricity costs are very high. We have proposed using solar energy for streetlights and other non-essential power needs to cut down on expenses,” he suggested.
Mr. Duffour acknowledged the traders’ concerns but clarified that the billing method was agreed upon by both management and trader representatives.
“Billing is not done arbitrarily. Management and trader representatives jointly decided that all traders, whether operational or not, would share in the electricity costs. Initially, management proposed focusing charges only on active shops, but the traders opposed this approach. As a result, even closed shops accumulate bills and traders are required to clear any outstanding amounts before reopening their shops,” he explained.
He added that if management had implemented a billing system based solely on operational shops, the outstanding GH¢2.8million debt might not have accumulated.
“If non-operational shops had only been billed upon reopening, we wouldn’t have accumulated such a large outstanding debt,” Mr. Duffour stated.
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