Man in police custody for illegally connecting power

The Amasaman Divisional Police Command has arrested a 40-year-old trader, Kofi Mensah, for power theft and reconnecting to the national grid after officials from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Ltd. disconnected him due to an illegal connection.

Speaking to the media, Kingsley Opoku, the ECG Amasaman District Manager, stated that during one of their routine monitoring exercises, field staff identified a customer using an unauthorized meter at "Nii Aryee," a suburb of Pokuase.

Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that the meter had been illegally relocated from another district. Consequently, the customer was disconnected and instructed to visit the office to regularize his relationship with the company.

Opoku reported that the customer refused to visit the office and instead illegally reconnected himself to the grid. "Whenever he was disconnected, the customer would reconnect himself without consulting the company.

"We became further alarmed when we discovered that the customer had used a cable to directly connect his premises to the low-voltage cables serving the community.

"He had also extended this illegal supply to other customers in the area," he explained.

Opoku emphasized that the suspect's actions not only endangered himself and other customers but also caused technical issues with the transformer serving the community.

Initially, the suspect resisted the company staff's attempts to disconnect him, which led to the involvement of the police, who then ensured the disconnection was carried out.

Emmanuel Akinie, the ECG Accra West General Manager, cautioned customers against tampering with the company's distribution network. He highlighted that such interferences were not only hazardous to the unauthorized individuals but could also lead to fire outbreaks and property damage.

"We are consistently revising our strategies to identify, surcharge, and prosecute any individuals found to be stealing power or engaging in other illegal activities that adversely affect our system," he declared.

The Accra West region comprises eight operational districts: Ablekuma, Achimota, Amasaman, Bortianor, Dansoman, Kaneshie, Korlebu, and Nsawam.