[ 2016-01-28 ]

Jinapor warns power thieves
The Deputy Minister of Power, Mr John Abdulai
Jinapor, has given strong indications to
individuals and organisations engaged in power
theft and illegal connection to stop the act or
face serious sanctions.

Leading a task force made up of officials of the
Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Volta
River Authority (VRA) and the Energy Commission to
inspect some industries in Accra, the minister
said an exercise had begun to clamp down on
illegal power consumers throughout the year.

Targeted at industries, entertainment centres,
hotels, ministries, departments and agencies
(MDAs), the exercise has been induced by the
wanton theft of power on the part of some people,
a development that undermines the revenue drive of
the sector.

The minister gave the warning when the task force
went to the Accra North Industrial enclave to
inspect some industries to ascertain the nature of
their electricity connection and the state of
electricity meters.

The task force, which was accompanied by the
media, inspected the premises of Latex Foam
Company, Dannex Limited, a pharmaceutical company,
and Fan Milk Limited.

Although there were no illegal connections on the
premises visited, the impromptu nature of the
exercise was met with some form of resistance on
the part of security personnel and officials of
the various companies.

The officials were of the view that they had not
been informed before the task force and the media
barged into their premises and started taking
shots with their cameras.

The minister had to explain matters to the
officials before the task force and the media were
allowed to make any inspection.

However, after the inspection, it was clear that
the companies were clean.

Mr Jinapor pointed out that the exercise, which
was carried out unannounced, was purposely to
expose perpetrators of power theft.

“We cannot continue to have a system where some
people pay for power and others do not. It is
unfair and creates imbalance,” he stated.

Power theft headache

Illegal connection and the non-payment of bills
remain some of the biggest challenges facing the
ECG.

In spite of the efforts by the company to control
the situation, the theft of power is becoming
overwhelmingly high.

System losses by the company is currently at 23.5
per cent, with the situation causing the power
distributor to lose several millions of Ghana
cedis.

A special court has been designated to
specifically prosecute those who steal power or
engage in illegal connection.

In August last year, the heads of seven
entertainment centres in Accra were arrested for
illegal connection, which resulted in a loss of
about 152,700 kwh of power, costing the ECG
GH¢137,488.

In the Kumasi metropolis and the Atwima-Kwanwoma
District in the Ashanti Region, 17 customers of
the ECG were arrested for power theft last year.

Between January and March 2015, the ECG retrieved
GH¢2,810,390 from 941 individuals and
organisations which were engaged in illegal power
connection.

The money was retrieved after the culprits were
arrested and prosecuted for stealing 7,061,183
kilowatt hours (units) of energy from the ECG.

Between August 1 and September 25, 2015,
prosecutions numbering 104 were made, with fines
totalling GH¢87,000 slapped on offenders.

In December 2015, 40 customers of the ECG were
arrested for power theft.

Ministries not exempted

Mr Jinapor indicated that the ECG needed the
financial resources to invest in areas in order to
deliver quality services to Ghanaians.

Therefore, he said, the task force would continue
to ensure that individuals, industries and MDAs
paid their bills and did the right thing.

He added that the MDAs had been instructed by the
Ministry of Finance to make provision for their
power consumption, hence they had no excuse not to
pay.

On the power situation, he explained that measures
were being put in place to increase generation,
while the transmission lines which tripled last
week would be investigated.

Source - Graphic online

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