By: OrePulse

Employees of the Electricity Company of Ghana, the state-owned power utility known as ECG, plan to hold a nationwide demonstration on September 29 opposing a plan to introduce private sector participation, or PSP, into the utility's operations, according to a joint union statement. The demonstration will take place simultaneously across all of ECG's operating regions, running from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. GMT.

After the demonstrations, organizers plan to deliver a petition to President John Dramani Mahama outlining their objections to the PSP proposal. Christopher Apawu and Lucky Larry Agboka, the union's national divisional chairs, signed the statement announcing the planned action.

Assembly points have been set in several cities for the day of action. In the capital, Accra, participants are due to gather at the Trades Union Congress forecourt. In Kumasi, workers will meet at the ECG regional office located at Airport Roundabout. Elsewhere around the country, employees are expected to assemble at their respective ECG regional offices, though the exact demonstration routes for those locations have yet to be released. Participants are expected to return to their assembly points for a briefing before dispersing at the end of the day.

The Public Utility Workers Union is organizing the nationwide action and has formally notified Ghana's Inspector General of Police of the planned demonstration, invoking Section 1(2) of the Public Order Act, 1994. Committees have been established at both the national and regional levels to coordinate logistics for the protest, and organizers have characterized the planned demonstration as peaceful.

The September 29 action extends a campaign against the privatization proposal that workers began earlier this month, during which employees have worn red armbands at work to signal their opposition to the plan visibly.