An 18-year-old, Maxwell Afful, has been found guilty by the Achimota District Court for stealing and possessing stolen meters belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

He has been sentenced to pay a fine of 40 penalty units. In case of default, as he pleaded guilty to illegal possession of stolen property and intentionally interfering with the supplier's distribution system, meters, and equipment, he will serve a four-month jail term.

During the court proceedings, the prosecution presented the facts of the case before His Worship Prince Osei Owusu, who presided over the court.

According to the prosecution, Afful was apprehended by the Achimota Mile 7 Police Patrol team at dawn, and he was carrying a backpack containing tools and six stolen meters from ECG customers' premises.

Afful, now a convict, confessed in his statement that he removed meters installed in households and sold them to other customers at various locations.

Dr. Mark Owusu Ansah, the Revenue Protection Manager of ECG, Accra West Region, expressed concern over the alarming trend and the impact it has on the Company's ability to provide quality service.

He explained that the stolen meters were geo-tagged, which allowed ECG monitoring teams to track their movements.

"Our installed meters are geo-tagged to indicate their exact locations. This helps our teams monitor the state of our meter installations regularly," Dr. Ansah stated. He further emphasized that the theft, resale, and relocation of installed meters affected the Company's revenue generation since some clients used electricity without paying due to the illegal activities.

Mr. Emmanuel Akinie, the General Manager of ECG, Accra West Region, issued a warning to criminals involved in meter theft and sales, urging them to cease such actions. He informed that the Company was implementing technology to identify stolen and re-installed meters.

“All our installed meters are geo-tagged to indicate their exact locations. This helps our teams to monitor the state of our meter installations regularly,” he said, adding that, however, stealing, reselling and changing the original location of installed meters was affecting the revenue generation of the Company because some clients used power without paying due to the illegality.

The Accra West Region, comprising eight operational districts—Ablekuma, Achimota, Amasaman, Bortianor, Dansoman, Kaneshie, Korlebu, and Nsawam—has already reported approximately 600-meter theft cases in four of the eight operational districts since the beginning of the year.