Mion Lana sworn in as a member of the 6member NEDCO Board

 

Paramount Chief of Mion, Mion Lana Abdulai Mahamadu was on Tuesday, August 10, 2021, sworn in as a Board Member of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo). 

The six-member NEDCo Board has Mr Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwah as Board Chairman, Mr Osman Ayuba as Chief Executive officer (CEO), Ms Leila Abubakari as a Member, Mr Musah Bandimsugru Adam as a Member Mion Lana Chief Mahama Abdulai as a Member and Ing. Samuel Boakye- Appiah also as a member. 

Background of NEDCo

NEDCo was formed out of the Northern Electricity Department (NED) of the Volta River Authority (VRA). NED itself was established in April 1987 when the northern electricity distribution operations of the then Electricity Corporation of Ghana were ceded to the VRA. 

The Authority, at the time, was in the process of extending the national grid beyond Kumasi to the northern parts of Ghana. The Volta River Development (Amendment) Law, 1987 (PNDCL 171) was passed to enable VRA to enter the distribution market at the level of the consumer. 

At the time of the inception Of NED, some major towns were served by diesel generators. Some of these towns with diesel generation included Sunyani, Techiman, Berekum, Wenchi, Dormaa Ahenkro, Tamale, Yendi, Salaga, Bolgatanga, Navrongo, Bawku and Wa. New diesel plants were also installed in Wa through the support of DANIDA in 1989. The electricity distribution network in Wa was also completely rehabilitated through DANIDA support in 1992. 

NED was originally started as three operational Areas namely Upper Area, Northern Area and Brong-Ahafo Area. In 1995, however, the Upper Area was divided into Upper East and Upper West Areas. In 2003, the Brong-Ahafo area was also further divided into two areas, Sunyani and Techiman.

In June 1994, the Government of Ghana (GOG) initiated the Power Sector Reform (PSR) programme aimed at bringing efficiency and managerial effectiveness in the Energy Sector in order to improve service delivery to all consumers. In pursuance of the Power Sector Reforms, VRA

Management registered NEDCo as a whollyowned VRA subsidiary with a Board of Directors since 1997 to take over the operations of NED.

NEDCo's current operations extend into the northern parts of Volta, Ashanti and Western regions. Although NEDCo's operations cover about 64% of the geographical area of

Ghana, the customer density of the operating area is low with access to electricity in the NEDCo operating area put at about 36% as at the end of 2011. The Ghana Government, in line with its vision of making electricity available to all by the year 2020, has undertaken power extensions over the years to new towns and communities that were hitherto not served by NEDCo. The customer population has thus grown from less than 20,000 in 1987 to over 380,000 in 2011.