25th July 2022

A former Managing Director of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Ing. Samuel Boakye-Appiah, is urging Ghanaians to desist from stealing power and instead pay for the power they consume to ensure the sustainability of the power industry.

According to him, power theft is hurting the industry and it was about time the West African nation saw it as a canker and waged war on it.

“Some Ghanaians should desist from stealing electric power. We should all pay for the power we consume,” Ing Samuel Boakye-Appiah said during an exclusive interview with energynewsafrica.com.

Giving details of the class of people in society who are involved in power theft, Ing Samuel Boakye-Appiah said: “If we are to profile those who are involved in stealing energy, you will realize that from the highest person in society to the lowest, they are all involved if you are to classify society. I’m talking from experience.”

Ing. Boakye-Appiah, who expressed worry about the situation, called for a national campaign against power theft.

“I will call for a national campaign against power theft. Just as we took the Covid-19 campaign, we should consider stealing energy as canker and fight it,” he said.

Power theft is a serious issue for both ECG and Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo).

In 2021, ECG identified 1,537 power theft and recovered an amount of Gh¢6.52 million.

In an interview with some journalists, the Corporate Communications Manager for Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), Maxwell Kotoka, decried the losses and the level of power theft in their operational areas.

“We suffer a loss of about 38% as we can’t account for the illegal power supply siphoned by residents of Kabonwule.”

Source: www.energynewsafrica.com