The exercise to check illegal connections forms part of the company's strategies to curb losses. System loses has being a bane of the ECG crippling its effectiveness despite the introduction of the prepaid metering system. In the last three and a half years the ECG has identified over nine thousand illegal electricity connections across the country. In 2011, the company detected close to 3000 illegal connections and over 3000 in 2012. Last year it the number reduced to over 2000 out of which 11.8 million Ghana Cedis was recovered. As at March this year ECG has detected 941 illegal connections and recovered 3.3 million Ghana Cedis for the state. Today's exercise took the team made up of ECG officials led by the Managing Director and the Police to some residence , businesses and offices in the capital. This Boutique at Abelenkpe, called Next Level Collections has an illegal connection called by pass. With this the shop owner only pays half of the bill to the ECG. This illegal connection was detected two weeks ago and the line was disconnected but the shop owner connected it again though he has been summoned by the ECG.
Some shop owners kept their shops under lock and key upon receiving information about the presence of the ECG officials and the police.A mobile phone shop owner had a by passed system and therefore pays half the bill as a result. He also uses a residential meter instead of a business or commercial one. The culprit was given a letter to report at the ECG offices. According to the Managing Director of ECG, Rev. William Hutton- Mensah his outfit has resolved to curb loses as a result of illegal connections. The exercise will be replicated in all the ten regions of the Country.
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