An Accra Circuit Court has handed out a five-year jail term to Richard Agyekum, a taxi driver for stealing cables worth GHS3000 belonging to telecom operator, Vodafone Ghana.
Richard and his accomplice were spotted at ABC Junction in Achimota, a suburb of Accra, pulling out a 55m 30 pair Ariel cable on October 22, 2013. A resident saw them and raised an alarm; he was then handed over to the Mile 7 Police station.
The imprisonment of Richard brings to seven the number of successful convictions of cable theft cases handled by the special Saturday Court since its establishment in May 2013.
Cable theft is a major problem for telecommunication firms in Ghana. Vodafone Ghana has collaborated with the Police and the Judicial Service to have special court sessions on Saturdays to expedite action on all cable theft cases.
According to the telecoms company cable theft accounts for nearly 25% of all fixed broadband faults reported. In 2013 alone the company lost GHC5m replacing stolen cables. As a strategy not to inconvenience customers, Vodafone uses alternative routes to re-connect customers whilst replacing such cables.
The telecoms company is urging members of the public to remain vigilant and report all cable theft to the Police on 18555 or 155 on their Vodafone line to speak to a member of Vodafone’s security team.
Source: Vodafone