20 Arrested for illegal power connection

Source: Daily Graphic Ghana  -  Twenty people were yesterday arrested for illegal connection of electricity at Agbogbloshie in Accra.
Their activities, which have gone on for some time now, is said to have caused the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to lose an estimated GH¢200,000.

All 20 people have been served with letters for billing and subsequent payment at the Accra West Regional office of the ECG.

Each person is expected to pay a penalty of GH?100,000 before they are reconnected due to the level of illegal activities they carried out.

The consumers, who use three-phased prepaid meters, are mainly cold store and corn mill operators, and usually carry out their illegal activities during the night.

They usually connect unapproved wires and cables to the main power at night and divert power to their homes without passing it through the meter.

Led by the acting District Manager of the Korle Bu branch of the ECG, Mr Horace Nkansah, the monitoring officers of the company collaborated with the James Town Police to carry out the swoop.

How swoop was done

Briefing the Daily Graphic after the exercise, Mr Nkansah said the operation was successful, noting that “if we don’t stop these activities, the company and the nation will lose a lot of revenue”.

He added that illegal connection was one of the major factors that affected stability of power supply to various parts of the country and called on the public to quickly report those who engaged in such wrongdoings.

“The ECG is also not relaxing as we are replacing bare conductors with insulators in areas such as Agbogbloshie to prevent some of these illegal activities and the frequent fire outbreaks,” he stated.

Illegal connection of street lights

He indicated that some individuals had also taken to the habit of erecting illegal street lights to draw power from them to their homes illegally.

He, therefore, cautioned anyone who was involved in such activities to desist from it, saying that anyone who wanted to erect street lights in the interest of the community must go through the district or municipal assembly and be directed to any office of the ECG for assistance.