News:
October 12, 2013
The Minister of Energy and Petroleum has apologized for suggesting that Ghanaians should turn off their lights if electricity tariffs are too expensive.
According to Emmanuel Armah Kofi Boah, he did not mean to insult the intelligence of Ghanaians by attempting to instruct them not to use electricity if tariffs are rising.
On his word, he only advised for the adoption of a prudent use of electricity, such as turning on lights and other gadgets only when they are needed. This, in his view, could go a long way to cut down on the price of electricity.
“… Ways through which we can help provide electricity to people who need and also create jobs is what am doing. And I will not attempt to deliberately offend Ghanaians who work hard despite the hardships. I am sorry that what I said has angered people. That is not what I meant. That is not how I was trained,” he explained ruefully.
Hon. Kofi Boah has come under intense public criticism in the last 24hours for calling on Ghanaians who have concerns over the high electricity tariffs to ‘turn your lights off, if electricity is expensive’.
“…Electricity is no more going to be some free water flowing. It is expensive; it is going to be expensive going into the future and the reality is that we must begin to understand that,” the Minister asserted.
However, in a telephone interview with Nana Yaw Kesse, the Host of “Platform” programme on Peace Fm, to further throw light on the issue, Hon. Boah apologized for his comments and called for a judicious use of electricity as a way to help reduce the cost of electricity in the wake of utility price hikes.
Peacefmonline.com