The Police say all electricity connections at the Osu Police Barracks and the Kumasi Central Police Station were done by officials of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and not the Police as alleged. A statement signed by Assistant Commissioner of Police Grace Ansah-Akrofi, Director, Public Affairs, said ECG officials did the connections directly to the poles since the ECG had indicated that it did not have meters at the time. ‘The attention of the Police Administration has been drawn to publications in sections of the media attributed to the Electricity Company of Ghana alleging electricity theft and illegal connections by the Police at the Osu Police Barracks and the Kumasi Central Police Station.’ It said as a government institution, the payment of electricity by the Police was centrally managed and not directly paid for by individual Police officers or commands and, therefore, there was no incentive for the Service or any of its officers to steal electricity as alleged. The statement said surprised by these allegations, the Police Administration caused investigations to be conducted into the matter and the investigation revealed that at the Osu Police Barracks, the ECG disconnected three buildings because they had no electricity meters. It said a similar situation happened in Kumasi, where one building was disconnected because it did not have its dedicated meter. The statement said checks from Police records indicated that the situation at both the Osu Police Barracks and the Kumasi Central Police Station had existed for some years now. It said after the investigation, at the instance of Dr George Akuffo Dampare, Inspector-General of Police, a meeting was held with the management of ECG where the outcome of their investigation to the effect that the Police had not been involved in illegal connection or power theft was made known to them, which they accepted and expressed regret about the situation. The statement said after the investigation, and prior to the meeting, all Police Regional Commands were directed to officially invite and work with ECG officials within their areas of operation to reexamine all existing electricity connections and metering in all Police facilities across the country including the possibility of installing bulk meters instead of individual meters for each building as has been the case over the years. It called on the public to disregard the false claims of power theft and illegal connections levelled against the Police since there was no basis for the allegations.
Source: Ghana News Agency