100 "Power Thieves" Nabbed

More than 100 people have been arrested in Kumasi for illegal reconnection of electricity whose supply was cut by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for non-payment of arrears. The arrests followed ECG's intensification of night monitoring exercise since August this year.

Penalty of $565,000 and $590,000 were charged for residential and non-residential reconnections. A total of $150 million has accrued from the exercise. The figure includes arrears and penalties from the illegal reconnections. Those arrested owed the company areas between $400,000 and $2 million.

The police/ECG night monitoring exercise, which forms part of ECG's revenue collection strategy, is to check illegal reconnection practiced lately by unpatriotic customers, contrary to Legislative Instrument 1366 of Electrical power regulations. Mr. William Hutton-Mensah, ECG's Regional Director, explained the night monitoring exercise due to a drop from 70% to 35% in collections of billed revenue since ECG applied the new tariff adjustment last August.

Hutton-Mensah appealed to consumers to be patriotic and stop "power theft," conserve energy and pay bills promptly to ensure quality service delivery. Director Hutton-Mensah warned that henceforth those caught engaging in illegal reconnections would be prosecuted in accordance with L. I. 1366. He said these illegal consumers would be given heavy fines and jail terms to serve as a deterrent to others. According to the ECG Director, illegal reconnection offenders would not be given the option of a penalty or payment of arrears.