The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is collaborating with the Judicial Service to introduce special utility courts in a bid to curb the power theft cases which have grown in leaps and bounds around the country.
The Company’s deputy Managing Director (Engineering and Operations), Kojo Ayensu Obeng, disclosed this initiative when he addressed the Energy Commission’s 18th Electrical Wiring Certification awards ceremony in Accra, where some 678 awardees including inspectors and practitioners were certified.
From the foregoing, therefore, all cases of meter-tampering, meter by-passes and direct connections will be treated as theft cases, and prosecuted as such.
This includes domestic or business owners, including electrical professionals, who are found to have undertaken these illegal connections and power thefts, and will be liable for prosecution.
The deputy Managing Director advised certified professionals to be guided by ethics of the profession and uphold integrity and honesty; and more importantly, to avoid being lured by shortcuts for unauthorised payments.
The scale of power theft identified so far in the company’s ongoing debt recovery exercise is huge. Indeed, several illegalities were discovered by the ECG team on their revenue mobilisation drive to recover GH₵5.7billion debt.
Some employees of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) have not been spared prosecution for their role in power theft. The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Limited uncovered illegal activities of customers in catchment areas covering Ablekuma, Achimota, Amasaman, Bortianor, Dansoman, Kaneshie, Korle-Bu and Nsawam.
In fact, the sophistication of illegalities identified showed a resolve by some customers to deny the Company of revenue for the electricity they use.
Consequently, the Company is investing heavily in technology to help identify customers who engage in illegalities. This appears to be the most sensible thing to do under the circumstances, otherwise ECG will be running into some serious debts.
ECG is currently undertaking nationwide meter inspections and auditing exercises as it intensifies the fight against power theft. The visibility exercise is aimed at checking the integrity of both domestic and commercial meters to ensure customers are paying the right amount of money for the power they consume.
Power theft is the main challenge affecting the operations of power distribution company GRIDCo, costing it as much as US$100million annually.
