The Accra West region of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has intensified its crackdown on unauthorised electricity connections at customer premises in the region. The move aims at reducing commercial losses and recouping lost revenue for the Company. To this end, the region has set up a special task force to visit customers in the region, to audit the state of installed meters and other electrical connections in their facilities.
The Ag. General Manager for ECG Accra West, Ing. Emmanuel Ankrah revealed that the special taskforce comprises of technical staff, specially trained to identify all forms of illegalities at customer premises. He warned that all customers who are identified to have engaged in illegalities will be disconnected, surcharged to pay a punitive amount and reported to the police for prosecution.
“Customers are advised to desist from conniving with self-styled employees of ECG, or electricians who interfere with our meter installations and illegally connect customers to the grid. Such actions deny the ECG of much needed revenue, negatively affecting the quality of services provided to customers”, Ing. Ankrah said. He further warned that “to all who have done illegal connections, we will identify you and recover the value of all the power you have used for free, with penalty”.
During a 3-month pilot of the revenue protection exercise from September to December, 2024, 374 customers were arrested for engaging in various forms of illegalities. In total, 3.3Gwh of power, amounting to Gh¢ 7,411,462.00 was recovered.
The Accra West Revenue Protection Manager, Dr. Mark Owusu Ansah revealed that the alarming figure from the pilot shows the gravity of the challenge of illegal connections. He reiterated the commitment of the taskforce to visit all customer premises in the region, and promised to create an unfriendly environment for all customers who want to engage in illegal connections. “We regard persons who engage in illegalities as thieves who steal power from us and deny us revenue. we are therefore leaving no stone unturned to identify such criminals and root them out”, he said.
Some forms of illegalities that were identified during the pilot exercise included direct service connections, meter bypass, meter tampering, and unauthorised service connections. The Accra West region of ECG has eight operational districts. These are Ablekuma, Achimota, Amasaman, Bortianor, Dansoman, Kaneshie, Korle-bu and Nsawam.
