The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has embarked on intensive tree pruning and right-of-way clearing across the Ashanti region to reduce power outages caused by overgrown vegetation ahead of the rainy season.
Ashanti Sub-Transmission General Manager Ing. Kofi Apau Ohenese said falling branches and encroaching vegetation are leading causes of feeder trips, voltage fluctuations and equipment damage during heavy rains and storms.
“Government is supporting ECG to improve infrastructure on the network, but we must also pay serious attention to vegetation control and management to improve supply reliability in the Ashanti Region,” Ing. Ohenese said Friday, May 22, 2026, at an inter-regional operations meeting in Kumasi.
To speed up the work, ECG has started paying arrears owed to contractors handling vegetation control and tree cutting. The company has awarded contracts to six firms, with work already underway on key corridors including Akyawkrom to Kuntenase and Bekwai, Anwomaso to Akyease, and Akyawkrom to Effiduase through to Kumawu.
Ing. James M. Yevunya, Manager for Network Maintenance at Ashanti Sub-Transmission, said 75% of the work is complete and the target is to finish before the end of June. “Supply reliability and public safety are our ultimate goal. Our target is to eliminate vegetation-related trippings on our network,” added Ing. Yevunya.
ECG has also deployed technology for the exercise, using its Network Management System App for real-time patrols and inspections.
Ing. Ohenese said clearing the outstanding payments should strengthen contractor participation and accelerate maintenance on critical sections of the network. The company is also engaging communities to stop planting tall trees under power lines and within transmission buffer zones.
Industrial users welcomed the move. An operations engineer at UNICEM Cement Ghana Limited said persistent voltage swings in the Bekwai enclave occasionally disrupt production lines during peak periods. “If ECG’s vegetation control programme is sustained, it should help reduce some of these interruptions,” the engineer said.
ECG expects the initiative to reduce vegetation-related faults, improve voltage stability and lower emergency repair costs.
ECG Ashanti Sub-Transmission team discusses power reliability strategy with Regional Minister
By Benjamin Aidoo
