Ex-convict gets six months for stealing ECG cables

The Accra circuit court nine, presided over by Mr. Samuel Bright Acquah, has sentenced Geofrey Obuobi, a 32-year-old unemployed, to six (6) months in prison with hard labour. Obuobi was accused of cutting and stealing copper core cables of a transformer belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana.The cost of the copper cables is valued at GhS 7,550.00.The accused was charged on three (3) counts of intentionally interfering with the supplier's distribution system, causing unlawful damage and stealing.He pleaded guilty on all counts.Narrating the facts to the court, the investigator, Detective Inspector Louis Mensah, said that on 16th October, 2024, a resident of Lartebiokoshie, Seidu Amadu, met the accused person with a sack.He said that the accused started behaving strangely on seeing Amadu, which alarmed him, and so he demanded to know what was concealed in the sack.The accused took to his heels and the witness gave him a hot chase with his motorbike, raising the alarm to draw the attention of other witnesses.The accused was arrested, and a search of the sack revealed 1 x 240 copper cables belonging to ECG, and a plier.Investigations revealed that the accused person is an ex-convict who finished serving a one-year prison sentence with hard labour only two weeks ago, for a similar offence.The Electricity Company of Ghana has in recent times experienced rampant stealing of electrical cables in their transformers, leading to several campaigns to sensitise the public to report any suspicious persons seen around their installations.Source: Ghana News Agency