Police reject ECG’s power theft accusation

The Police administration has mounted a strong defence against accusations of illegal electricity connections which amounts to power theft at Osu Police Barracks in Accra and Kumasi Central Police Station.

ECG did the connections

According to the police, the connections being labeled as illegal were done by staff of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

No incentive to steal power

The service said there is no incentive for officers to steal power because, payment of bills is centrally managed and not paid directly by individual officers.

The Police has therefore circulated a wireless message to all Commanders not to allow any ECG official into police facilities under their jurisdiction.

According to the message, a template letter of invitation to formally invite ECG officials to undertake inspections, review on connections, rectification of irregularities and installation of bulk meters.

A statement signed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Grace Ansah-Akrofi, Director of Public Affairs explained that following the accusations of illegal connection, an investigation was conducted into the matter.

The statement revealed that at Osu Police Barracks, ECG disconnected three buildings for not having meters.

According to the Police, a similar situation happened in Kumasi where one building was disconnected because it did not have a dedicate meter.

The statement said police records show that the situation at both Osu Police Barracks and Kumasi Central Police Station existed for some years now.

“Investigations further revealed that all the connections at the Osu Police Barracks and Kumasi Central police Station were done by ECG directly to the poles since ECG had indicated that it did not have any meters at the time. In both instances, the connections were done by officials of (ECG),” it stated.

The statement said after the investigations conducted at the instances of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr Goerge Akuffo Dampare, a meeting was held with the management of ECG where the outcome of the investigations which established that the police had not been involved in illegal connection or power theft was made known to ECG management

The statement said ECG management accepted the findings and expressed regret about the situation.

“After the investigations, and prior to the meeting, all police Regional Commands were directed to officially invite and work with ECG officials within their areas of operation to re-examine all existing electricity connections and metering in all police facilities across the country including the possibility of install bulk meters instead of individual meters for each building as has been the case over the years,” the statement added.

A large number of people intentionally steal power just because they do not want to pay for power

Each year, ECG records 28% losses estimated at GH₵2.8 billion.

Power theft alone accounts for 10% of the losses.

It means ECG loses about GH₵1 billion to power theft each year.

ECG has so far established the existence of 4.5 million customers with prepaid and postpaid being 50 per cent each and the count continues.

The Company has discovered that out of five prepaid customers, three are not paying the right amount.

In the same vein, out of five prepaid customers, three are not paying for power consumed because they engaged in illegal connection.

Through a one month nationwide revenue mobilisation exercise, ECG has recovered over GH₵2.5 billion out of the over GH₵5.7 billion debt customers owe.

The exercise targeted domestic users, businesses, organisations, ministries, departments and state agencies for power already consumed.