Eight hundred fake electricity metres have been seized by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in Kumasi.
According to the Ashanti Regional Public Affairs Director, Mr. Erasmus Baidoo, the metres were seized mostly in the Kumasi Metropolis and do not bear the security features that are embossed on the original ECG metres.
Addressing newsmen here, Mr. Baidoo explained that, “there are some illegal activities that customers of ECG have been engaging in over the years, because of that, we set up Revenue Protection Unit with support from the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General’s Department to intensively work and arrest those people involved in the illegalities.”
He said ECG has been losing a lot of money through the use of some of these fake metres and other illegal activities by recalcitrant customers over the years.
According to Mr. Baidoo, authorities would not settle with just retrieving the meters, but rather, they would refer the matter to the police for further investigations and arrest the culprits and subsequently charge and prosecute them at the court.
Mr. Stephen Taah, the Coordinator of the Revenue Protection Unit, disclosed that, the fake metres which mostly bore names like, “Ciemenz, Ciemans, Ciemens” through their investigations were imported into the country illegally and through that, users of these metres have been stealing power from ECG illegally.
He disclosed that, “currently, six people are facing prosecution at the courts for illegal activities like power stealing, possession of fake meters and others.”
Mr. Ataah warned customers to be cautious of people they deal with when it comes to issues related to electricity as he advised them to deal directly with officials from ECG to avoid unforeseen problem with the law.
Mr. Paul Boakye, a resident of Edwinase, a suburb of Atimatim and culprit of possessing fake meter, when interviewed by The Ghanaian Times, claimed he bought the metre from someone in Kumasi for GH¢300.00, and have been using the metre for seven months now.
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