Prosecute AAL

ONE utility company which has been criticised constantly by Ghanaians is the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). It is like the company is always in the news. And this is largely due to the frequent power outages that many of our communities have been experiencing time and time again. Sometimes some of these intermittent power outages are unannounced, which cause irreparable damages to many of our domestic electrical appliances.

CALLING on ECG to improve upon their services is a step in the right direction. For after all services provided by the company are not free. Ghanaians with manual meters are billed every month whereas those with prepaid meters have to top up their power supply anytime they observe it is getting finished.

WE all know the importance of electricity and so it becomes very disquieting anytime people experience power cuts. Some Ghanaians have even had the reason to take legal actions against ECG, because of the consequences of power cuts on their electrical gadgets.

BUT, the question we pose is as we demand for better services from ECG have we also played our part by ensuring that ECG has money to run and improve upon its operations? We must acknowledge the fact the ECG will need money to ensure that we have regular supply of electricity.

AND this will depend largely on its revenue. That means paying our electricity bills on early enough and refraining from practices which tend to cause ECG huge sums in lost revenue. Last Saturday, April 10, 2010, Daily Graphic reported on its front page an illegal connection of electricity allegedly carried out by the Africa Automobile Limited (AAL).

ACCORDING to the news item as reported by the Daily Graphic, the illegal electricity connection by AAL was believed to have been done in 2005. And to avoid any detection by ECG, AAL officials concealed the electrical conductors in PVC pipes. This is indeed criminal and we on Today charge ECG to take steps to have AAL prosecuted. This we believe will deter other companies who have the intention to commit such offence.

WE can all imagine the revenue lost by ECG since the time AAL did the illegal electricity connection. This will certainly be in billions of Ghana cedis. It is important to understand that AAL is not a case in isolation.

MANY Ghanaians in their domestic homes have been stealing from ECG whilst some do this through illegal electricity connection; others have tampered with their meters to allow them to pay very little. Why? We are quick in always taking swipes at ECG yet majority of us do not pay our electricity bills on time. An attitude such as the above will certainly not help ECG give us the best of services we desire.

WHILES the paper is urging ECG to seek legal redress against AAL, we further call on Ghanaians to help ECG by regularly paying our electricity bills on time.

We should also not hesitate to report people who engage in the practice of illegal electricity connections.