A/R: 'Must I apologise for doing my security work?' – Osei-Mensah rubbishes ECG workers’ call for apology over GM’s arrest

The Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah has wondered if he has to apologise for doing his security work, which, according to him, necessitated his recent order to the police to arrest the Ashanti East General Manager of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr Mark Wiafe Asomani, following the state power distributor’s disconnection of Kumasi Technical University from the national grid over a debt.

Since the incident, the workers of ECG have demanded an apology from the minister with some of them even threatening to disconnect power to his private residences if he owes even a pesewa in terms of bills.

However, at a press conference in Kumasi today, Thursday, 26 April 2024, Mr Osei-Mensah explained that he was only doing his job.

“Do I have to apologise for doing my security work?”, he asked.

“What I want to tell you is that I asked the police to invite Ing. Mark Asomani Wiafe on security grounds because of the happenings in the electricity sector in the region and the fact that a task force can always come from outside to disconnect without the proper information”, he explained.

Mr Osei-Mensah continued: “What is ironic is that they tell me that they are not under me and for that matter, I cannot tell them what to do but they want to tell me how to execute my security responsibilities as enshrined in the Securities and Intelligence Act of 2020, Act 10(30).”

The ECG, in response to the incident, banned its managers from attending Regional Security Council (REGSEC) meetings but Mr Osei-Mensah told journalists that no ECG manager is a member of REGSEC.

He also chastised ECG for ignoring the Security Council’s directive against power outages at the residences of the president and the vice president when they are present in the region.

Furthermore, he accused the ECG of over-billing him and noted that he did not owe the power company any money.

—ClassFMonline