Workers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) are set to embark on a nationwide demonstration on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, to protest the government’s proposed Private Sector Participation (PSP) in the power distribution company. The action, led by the Senior Staff Union (SSU) and Junior Staff Union (JSU), marks a significant escalation in the growing tension between organised labour and the government over the future of the state-owned utility.
The unions have directed their members across all ECG operational regions to join the exercise, which is scheduled to run from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. In Accra, participants will converge at the forecourt of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), while workers in Kumasi will assemble at the ECG Regional Office near the Airport Roundabout. Employees in other regions will gather at their respective ECG regional offices, with specific march routes to be communicated later.
The demonstration will culminate in the presentation of a petition to President John Dramani Mahama through the regional ministers. According to a directive signed by SSU National Divisional Chairman Christopher Apawu and JSU National Divisional Chairman Lucky Larry Agboka, the petition will formally communicate the workers’ position on the proposed arrangement.
The Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU), which is coordinating the exercise, has notified the Inspector General of Police of the planned protest in line with Section 1(2) of the Public Order Act, 1994 (Act 491).
A Two-Phase Protest Strategy
The planned demonstration is the latest phase of industrial action announced by the unions earlier this month. On September 15, 2026, the joint unions directed members to wear red armbands to work as the first phase of a series of actions. All branches were also instructed to replace old red flags at their operational areas with new and larger flags bearing clear messages explaining the reason for their display.
The unions have stated that members will continue wearing red armbands until the next phase of action is announced. National and regional committees will coordinate the demonstration, with additional information to be communicated through the respective committees.
The Proposed Model: What Is at Stake
The government’s proposed PSP arrangement has been a source of intense controversy. According to the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, the scope of private sector participation is expected to be determined after a transaction advisor submits its report in the first week of October 2026. The government has spent an average of $1.5 billion annually to cover shortfalls in the energy sector.
Cabinet’s approval for private sector participation, granted in April 2025, covered billing and revenue collection only. However, the TUC has disputed the government’s characterization of the proposal. According to the TUC, the transaction advisor appointed at the instance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has proposed a model in which private operators will assume responsibility for electricity distribution from the Bulk Supply Points to the final customer.
Under the proposed model, ECG and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) would retain ownership of their distribution assets, while private operators would lease and operate the networks. The private operators would handle billing, revenue collection, customer management, network maintenance, loss reduction, and other technical and commercial functions.
TUC Rejects Proposal, Threatens Legal Action
The Trades Union Congress (TUC)-Ghana has rejected the World Bank’s proposal and accused the institution of being “disingenuous” about the arrangement. The union challenged comments by the World Bank’s Country Director, Dr Adrian Alter, who said on Channel One Television on August 24, 2026, that the proposed PSP involved “only revenue collection.”
“The World Bank is aware of this model. It is shocking for the Bank to say otherwise. And it is even more disingenuous for the Bank to claim that ECG is not going to be privatised,” the TUC stated. The union has warned it will use all legal means available to stop the proposed arrangement, maintaining that PSP and privatisation are effectively the same.
The TUC also questioned whether private sector involvement would necessarily improve electricity access, particularly in rural areas, citing data from countries including Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, and Rwanda, which it said had higher rural access rates than Nigeria and Uganda, where private companies have taken over distribution.
A History of Failed Privatisation Attempts
The current controversy is not Ghana’s first attempt to introduce private sector involvement in ECG’s operations. In March 2019, the Akufo-Addo government handed ECG’s operations to Power Distribution Services (PDS) under a 20-year concession, framing it as a concession rather than privatisation. The deal, a key component of the Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) programme, aimed to use private-sector management to improve efficiency and service delivery within ECG.
However, the PDS concession collapsed in October 2019 when the Government of Ghana abruptly terminated the agreement. The tribunal later dismissed a $390 million lawsuit filed by PDS against ECG, upholding the government’s termination of the contract. President Mahama has since stated that while the PDS deal was “not a bad idea,” it was “handled wrongly” and failed due to “personal interests.”
The TUC has recalled Ghana’s experience with privatisation under the Structural Adjustment Programme, saying World Bank-supported reforms led to the privatisation of more than 100 state-owned enterprises and resulted in significant job losses. “We did not vote for the World Bank to run our country and, for that matter, our energy distribution sector,” the union stated.
ECG’s Deepening Financial Crisis
The proposed PSP arrangement comes against the backdrop of ECG’s deteriorating financial position. The company recorded a loss after tax of GH¢2.52 billion for the 2025 financial year, driven largely by electricity purchase costs of GH¢34.8 billion, which exceeded revenue of GH¢22.11 billion and resulted in a gross loss of GH¢12.7 billion.
The absence of the GH¢17 billion government grant received in 2024 also contributed to the company’s return to a loss after posting a profit in the previous year. ECG’s total equity declined from GH¢5.25 billion in 2024 to GH¢438 million in 2025, while accumulated losses reached GH¢27.5 billion.
The World Bank has warned that without policy interventions, Ghana’s energy sector is projected to have an annual shortfall of about US9 billion by the end of 2026. The institution cited combined losses at ECG and NEDCo of $1.5 billion, far exceeding the $525 million target set for 2027.
ECG’s revenue collection performance improved from 48 per cent to a peak of 71 per cent in April 2026 before falling to 58 per cent in May and recovering to about 70 per cent in June. The shortfall in 2025 amounted to GH¢9.2 billion in uncollected revenue, affecting the government’s ability to pay independent power producers, as well as the Volta River Authority and Bui Power Authority, for electricity already generated.
Government’s Defence and Way Forward
The government has defended its plans, insisting that ECG will not be privatised and that no workers will lose their jobs. President Mahama has urged organised labour to support the restructuring plans, assuring that “ECG will sell the electricity to the private sector and get paid for it” and that “ECG will get its money and pay its employees.”
The Energy Ministry has also stated that private sector entry does not mean ECG is failing, but rather that participation would help complement its efforts and improve efficiency, revenue collection, and investment in Ghana’s electricity distribution system.
A technical advisor at the Ministry of Finance has disclosed that private sector participation is expected to commence by early 2027 through public-private partnerships and concession models specifically designed to improve operational performance while keeping ECG in public hands.
The Deputy Secretary-General of the TUC, Dr Kwabena Nyarko Otoo, has said the union had not been consulted on the appointment of the transaction advisor or the terms of reference for the assignment. “Whatever that transaction advisor advises, it’s an advice to government. We will not be guided by it,” he said.
As the September 29 demonstration approaches, the standoff between the government and organised labour shows no signs of resolution. With the transaction advisor’s report due in early October and the unions vowing to intensify their actions, the coming weeks will be critical in determining the future of Ghana’s power distribution sector and the role of private capital within it.
