The Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) has given the Tamale Teaching Hospital a two week ultimatum to clear its debts or face disconnection.
The hospital is the only health facility offering tertiary healthcare in Northern Ghana, serving clients across the Northern, Upper East, North East, Upper West and Savannah Regions. Clients also cross over from Togo, Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast to access healthcare, making it a critical healthcare facility in the area.
Despite its importance, the hospital owes NEDCo about forty six million cedis in electricity bills.
A debt recovery team from NEDCo, led by the Managing Director, Osmani Aludiba Ayuba, called on the Management of the TTH on Thursday, May 20, 2023 to discuss payment terms. The MD insisted that the hospital must pay at least seventy percent of the debt in order to continue to enjoy electricity supply.
However, the Management of the Hospital pleaded with the MD to consider the potential impact of disconnecting the facility. The Director of Administration at the TTH, Emmanuel Sena Kwesi Donkor, explained that management has already written to the Ministry of Health to alert them on the development.
He explained that the hospital’s utility bills are paid by the government, adding that a letter has been written to the Ministry of Health informing the Ministry of the development.
NEDCo started an exercise on Tuesday to recover over 1.2 billion cedis debt owed by various institutions across its operational area.
Some of the Institutions include, the Alhaji Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium, the Tamale Teaching Hospital, the Bagabaga College of Education, the Tamale College of Education, the University for Development Studies and the Tamale Technical University.
On the first day of the exercise, NEDCo disconnected the Tamale and Bagabaga Colleges of Education as well as the Alhaji Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium.
The debt recovery exercise is expected to end on May 18, 2023.