Court fines two for damaging ECG meters

The Accra Circuit Court has convicted two persons of damaging three power meters belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and interfering with the power distribution system of the company.

The convicts — Hayford Mortey, an IT officer, and Mumuni Isaaka, alias Mormey, a tailor — were subsequently fined 100 penalty units each (representing GH¢1,200) by the court, presided over by Mrs Afi Agbanu-Kudomor. In default, they will each serve one year in prison with hard labour.

Compensation

They were also ordered to pay GH¢2,000 each as compensation to the ECG.

Their two accomplices - Godknows Hiatepe, an aluminium fabricator, and Angel Gabriel Quarshie, a drummer - were convicted in August by the same court after they had pleaded guilty.

Mortey and Isaaka, who pleaded not guilty to charges of stealing and using an ECG master card with an infinite amount of credit to provide power for some residents of Chantan in Accra for a fee, were granted bail in the sum of GH¢10,000.

They were also charged for damaging three ECG meters valued at GH¢2,985.

Isaaka, who is said to have supplied the master card to his three accomplices, was also charged for stealing the master card.

Prosecution 

The Head of the Prosecution Unit of the ECG, Mr Paul Assibi Abariga, told the court that the accused persons were arrested when some officials of the Accra West District Office of the ECG found out that the credit on the meters of some customers at Chantan were abnormal.

The team  also found out that the accused persons had destroyed the ECG meters of three customers in the Chantan area by using a stolen master card. 

He said the customers mentioned Mortey, Hiatepe and Quarshie as the persons who had credited their meters with GH¢200 worth of power each for a fee of GH¢20.

Based on this information, he said, the three persons were arrested.