The Ho Circuit Court has sentenced two of the three suspects who were arrested by the Volta Regional Police Command for attempting to steal a transformer at Adaklu Tsrefe on October 5.
The two Suspects, Sitsofe Agbodza 26 years and Deladem Kodzo Tsrakasu 29 years were sentenced to five years imprisonment each by the Circuit Court presided over by Joseph Nadaado Mac-Ali Junior on November 1, after both pleaded guilty to stealing and an attempt to destroy public property.
The third suspect, Abdul Wahab Seydou, a 20-year-old plumber had his sentence deferred to the next three weeks after the circuit court judge ordered a social enquiry to be conducted on him and the report to be submitted to the court within the next three weeks.
According to Benjamin Obeng Antwi, the ECG Volta Regional PRO, the judge explained that Mr. Wahab was below 21 years and a first-time offender, hence the need to conduct and submit a social enquiry report on the suspect before pronouncing the court’s judgement.
Mr. Obeng Antwi recounted that the three suspects were apprehended by residents of Adaklu Tsrefe and later handed over to the Volta Regional Police Command on 5th October for vandalizing the ECG transformer and stealing valuable components in the transformer.
“As a company, we are committed to providing quality, reliable and safe electricity services for our customers but the activities of these individuals prevent us from delivering our core mandate. Once the transformer is stolen, power supply will be curtailed to customers and this will affect businesses, schools and even hospitals so we humbly appeal to the general public to assist us curb this menace,” he said.
“The transformer is the most expensive component in our network and the value for the damaged transformer at Adaklu Tsrefe by these suspects is 104,000 Cedis minus labor and other expenses which affects our operations as well as our financial health. This new transformer could have been sent to communities without power supply or even extend power to other areas”, he added.
Ms. Christina Jatoe- Kaleo, the General Manager of ECG in the Volta Region urged the general public to be vigilant and help protect ECG installations in their communities, homes and towns.
“Lately people are even stealing the earth wires at our substations and service cables of our customers which normally result in outages so let’s all come together to fight this menace. If you see anyone suspicious working at any ECG substation or facility, kindly report to the nearest police station or ECG via 0302611611, the ECG PowerApp or any of our social media handles @ecgghofficial,” she said.
Ms. Jatoe-Kaleo cautioned individuals involved in this illegal act to desist from it and added that the company will not hesitate to prosecute such individuals.
Ms. Jatoe Kaleo commended the community for their vigilance and the Ghana Police Service for their swift intervention.
Ms. Jatoe-Kaleo assured the general public of the company’s commitment to deliver on its mandate through a stable power supply and excellent customer service.