Vodafone wins CIPS awards

VODAFONE GHANA has won the Best Contribution to Corporate Social Responsibility at the 2013 Pan African Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) Awards, which was held in South Africa, Johannesburg.

The award is in recognition of Vodafone Ghana’s innovative ‘Handset Buyback Scheme’, which the telecommunications giant introduced to ensure the proper disposal of old and destroyed mobile phones as part of efforts to help manage electronic waste and drive sustainability.

Carmen Bruce-Annan, Head of Vodafone Foundation said, “We are very excited to receive this prestigious award for the third consecutive time. At Vodafone, operating responsibly and ethically is the key focus of our Corporate Responsibility, and our Handset Buyback Scheme is our way of protecting our environment from waste. We are grateful to CIPS for this award.”

The CIPS Awards is a prestigious award that celebrates companies and individuals’ outstanding achievement in procurement and supply chain management. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) operates internationally in about 150 countries.

In another development, an Accra Circuit Court presided over by Justice Francis Obiri on Saturday, August 24, 2013 sentenced some three persons to seventeen years imprisonment for stealing cables belonging to telecoms giant Vodafone.

The three, Kofi Donkor got 7 years whilst Sumaila Abdulai and Rahman Yussif got 5 years each. The cables are valued at GH 15,500, and affected some 448 Vodafone customers.

Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Michael Jubiok from the Greater Accra Regional Police Command told the court that at 3:00am on March 9, 2012, two security guards manning a restaurant at East Legon spotted Kofi Donkor and his accomplice cutting the cables in a chamber belonging to Vodafone Ghana. He was apprehended, but his accomplice escaped.

Sumaila Abdulai and Rahman Yussif on the other hand were spotted by a passer-by cutting Vodafone cables in Kisseiman, West Legon at 2:00am on June 19, 2013. On spotting the two, the passer-by raised an alarm and together with residents, detained the suspects until Police personnel from Achimota arrived at the scene.

Earlier this month, 3 other persons were sentenced to nineteen years imprisonment for a similar offence.

Vodafone with the support of the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Judicial Service have set up special Saturday Courts to expedite sentences on cable theft.

The telecoms giant complained nearly 25 percent of all their fixed broadband faults are due to cable cuts. In 2012, the company spent GHC5million on replacing stolen cables.