ECG cracks down on power theft in Accra West

The Accra West Region of the Electricity Company Of Ghana has assured its full cooperation into the ongoing investigation of the power theft of the Forum for Women Educationalist FM (FAWE FM).

According to the Public Relation Officer of the Accra West Region of ECG, Fred Baimbill-Johson, any official found culpable in the investigation will be punished accordingly.

This investigation was necessitated after some discrepancies during checks by the technical staff of ECG at FAWE FM, a community radio station at Fatobi, near Nsawam in the Eastern Region.

The operation revealed that connections to certain gadgets were not read by the metre.Mr. Johnson said that the ECG will be involving in such investigations.

“To show our seriousness in the fight against illegal connections, what we are saying is that even after we have found out that any customer is involved in an illegal connection and surcharged the person, we refer the case to the Ghana police service for them to investigate and prosecute.”

“So it doesn’t matter who is involved or where the person works. Once the case is referred to the Ghana Police, they will be investigated and if anyone is found culpable, we give them [the police] our full support.”

Pledge to reduce power theft

The ECG as a whole is seeking to reduce its losses to power theft to the barest minimum in 2020.The average losses from power theft stand at about 25 percent annually.In line with this, there are plans to implement a new system to prevent people from engaging in illegal connections.

At the launch of the ECG’s mobile app, Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said the ECG was “piloting a system now and by the grace of God, if all goes well, we would have implemented a new system starting this year whereby nobody will be able to steal electricity in Ghana again.”