Criminal activities by some residents of Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana is making the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) lose GH¢8.5 million every month.
The power distribution company, which supplies electricity to Tamale, Techiman, Wa, Bolgatanga and Sunyani, has been losing 45 per cent of power supplied in the Tamale Metropolis through power theft, popularly known as illegal connection by the residents.
“Look, we’re losing GH¢8.5 million in Tamale alone every month. We provide services in Bolgatanga, Wa, Techiman, etc but none of these is happening in the other locations,” Mr William Kwame Asare, Chairman of Senior Staff Association of NEDCo, said in a telephone interview with energynewsafrica.com.
The staff of NEDCo and VRA are currently on strike over attacks on them by some residents who have been engaging in power theft in Tamale.
Mr Asare told energynewsafrica.com that residents of Tamale are always ready to welcome the staff of NEDCo to their homes to attend to faults and other electrical problems but said anytime the staff went into the town to undertake revenue mobilization exercise, they were beaten and assaulted.
He recounted that on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, a group of staff including casuals, went out on a disconnection exercise at Koblimagua, a suburb of Tamale, and one casual staff, Mr Leban Bani Issah, was attacked with cutlasses as well as machetes and was nearly killed by some residents after disconnecting a house for power theft.
He said the staff sustained cutlass wounds and bled profusely as a result of the assault.
According to him, the victim is currently on admission but is responding to treatment.
He continued that Edmond Dakura, a staff with the Loss Control Unit, was assaulted and his mobile phone was seized while on a routine monitoring exercise at Gambini, a suburb of Tamale.
This, Mr Asare explained, occurred while the victim was disconnecting a customer for an illegal connection.
He further recounted that the Loss Control team was attacked at Gbolo Kpatsi, a suburb of Tamale when they attempted to disconnect a customer who had reconnected himself after being disconnected for an illegal connection.
“The staff had to run and to also save the vehicle from being vandalized,” he narrated.
Then on February 22, 2022, Abdul Washie, a staff with the Electrical Maintenance team, was attacked and assaulted by a mob at Gbolo Kpatsi while carrying out troubleshooting to repair a fault.
He said these attacks and many other intolerant actions of the residents have made their routine exercise very risky and would, therefore, not go out to risk their lives.
In a statement, the Management of NEDCo described the actions of the Tamale residents as regrettable and called on the public to support to fight the canker.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com