An unemployed resident of Dansoman in Accra, has been sentenced to your a year in prison for stealing electricity cables belonging to the Accra East Region of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
Geoffrey Oboubi, according to court documents had used a cutter to cut core copper cable measuring 1×185 and valued at GHc7,550 belonging to the power distributor.
He was caught pulling the stolen cable from a transformer at Ridge when officials of ECG who were responding to a power outage arrived at the scene.
Oboubi was arrested and charged with one count of stealing, one count of unlawful damage and one count of intentionally interfering with the supplier’s distribution.
He pleaded guilty to all three charges and was convicted on his own plea. His Honour Bright Samuel Acquah, the presiding judge sentenced the convict to one year imprisonment on each count but to run concurrently.
Facts presented by the prosecution led by Paul Abariga, indicated that the Accra East District of ECG has been experiencing rampant stealing of their electrical cables in the transformers over a period.
It said on October 19 2023, the Ridge school called the ECG emergency line and complained of a power outage.
Seth Abrakwa Adjei, an employee of the ECG led a team of technicians to the school and on arrival they saw the convict pulling a cable from the transformer and he was arrested.
The facts said further checks on the transformer revealed that the convict had used a cutter to cut core copper cable 1×185 value GH7,550.
He was taken to the ECG investigation office and a complaint was made, investigation caution statement was obtained from him and he confessed to the crime in the presence of an independent witness.
Power Theft Remanded
In a similar but separate case, a phone dealer has been remanded into police custody for stealing power as well as assaulting an employee of ECG.
Habib Shaibu is before an Accra Circuit Court on charges of stealing, causing harm and one count of intentionally interfering with the supplier’s distribution.
He pleaded not guilty to all three charges and was remanded by His Honour Bright Samuel Acquah, to reappear on December 8, 2023.
The accused according to court documents, assaulted the complainant who was checking an illegal connection the accused had undertaken.
He is said to have head butted the complainant, leading him to bleed profusely and had to be rushed to the hospital.
The prosecuting facts state that the complaint Frank Afako, a staff of ECG revenue protraction unit together with his colleagues visited the accused at his shop at Ashaley Botwe and realised he had used a 2.5 cable to tap power before the ECG installed prepaid metre in his shop.
It said the complainant disconnected the power and issued accused person summons to report at ECG office at Legon but he failed to do so.
On April 4, 2023, complainant and his team revisited the accused person’s shop and realised that he had removed the installed ECG prepaid meter and had replaced it with a postpaid metre.
“Accused person was asked the whereabouts of the removed prepaid meter but he could not answer. The leader of the team ordered the complainant to disconnect the power and remove the postpaid meter. When complainant removed the meter and went outside the shop, accused person became furious and rushed on the complainant. Accused person then held the complainant head and used his head to hit his mouth. At that instant blood started oozing out from his mouth,” the facts state.
It said Mr. Afako was rushed to Obojo poly clinic for treatment but he was later referred to Tema General Hospital for treatment.
The case was referred to ECG investigation unit and police medical form was issued to the complainant and he returned same dully endorsed by a medical officer from Tema General Hospital.
“During investigation, police visited the scene at accused person’s shop. At the scene it was realized that accused person had reconnected ECG power directly and he was using same for his business.”
Shaibu was invited to assist with investigation and on August 30, 2023, he reported himself and investigation caution statement was obtained from him, after which he was charged and dragged before court.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak