Seventeen customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the Kumasi metropolis and the Atwima-Kwanwoma District of the Ashanti Region have been arrested for power theft.
They were arrested during a revenue mobilisation exercise undertaken by officials of the ECG, in collaboration with the police, in Kumasi and the Atwima-Kwanwoma District last Friday to recover debts owed the company by consumers.
The suspects are said to have illegally reconnected their power after it had been disconnected for the non- payment of bills.
Made up of business people and residential consumers, the suspects owed the ECG thousands of Ghana cedis in power consumed.
Coverage
The exercise covered areas such as Adum Pampaso, Adum Railways and Kejetia, all in the Kumasi metropolis, and Kyekyewere and Aboabo Kesse in the Atwima-Kwanwoma District.
The Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Yusif Mohammed Tanko, told the Daily Graphic that the suspects had been put in police custody at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to assist in police investigations.
He said they would soon be processed for court on charges of power theft and illegal connection.
Warning
The Ashanti Regional Communications Manager of the ECG, Mr Erastus Kyere Baidoo, advised customers of the company to desist from illegal connection, as the law would not spare anyone caught.
He said the company was losing huge revenue through power theft, while some consumers also owed the company huge amounts for power consumed
He said the ECG had decided to embark on periodic exercises to recover debts and also fish out those involved in illegal connections.
The exercise, according to him, would be sustained until every pesewa owed the company was retrieved.
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Source: Graphic Online