The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the Tema region has raised serious concerns over rising cases of vandalism and illegal electricity connections, warning that the situation is disrupting power supply and costing the company millions of cedis.
It stated that persistent acts of vandalism targeting critical installations—such as transformers, fuses, and cables—by unidentified individuals continue to interrupt electricity supply and inconvenience customers across several communities.
The General Manager of ECG’s Tema Regional Office, Emmanuel Ankomah, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, described illegal connections and transformer vandalism as major operational challenges.
Cost
Mr Ankomah disclosed that between the last quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, eight transformers were vandalised, with each replacement costing close to GH¢200,000.
He explained that vandals typically target valuable components such as copper or aluminium windings and steel cores, which were removed and sold, stressing that these activities placed excessive strain on equipment, often resulting in faults and outages.
“These illegal activities place undue stress on transformers and frequently lead to equipment damage and power interruptions,” he stated.
He further revealed that some perpetrators disguised themselves as ECG personnel to gain access to installations and carry out such theft.
Support
The ECG official appealed to the public to support efforts to safeguard power infrastructure by reporting suspicious activities. He cautioned against illegal connections and other unlawful practices, stressing that under Executive Instrument (EI) 38 of the Appointment of Public Prosecution Instrument (2010), ECG had the legal mandate to prosecute offenders.
“We urge the public to remain vigilant. Anyone seen tampering with transformers, particularly at odd hours, should be reported to ECG or the nearest police station,” he advised.
Mr Ankomah said ECG’s loss control teams conducted regular patrols to clamp down on illegal connections, while new digital tools were being deployed to enhance maintenance and fault detection.
Expansion
On infrastructure expansion, he revealed that ECG was constructing new 11kV and 33kV feeders to ease pressure on existing lines, particularly in fast-growing areas such as Afienya, Mataheko, and surrounding communities.
He added that overstretched distribution lines in areas such as Afienya had been identified, with proposals submitted for upgrades to meet growing demand.
He said with the recent transformer upgrade at the Lashibi Primary Substation, ECG was positioned to address increasing electricity demand in the Tema region.
“Our goal is to improve reliability and provide better service to our customers,” he said.
The project is expected to benefit approximately 20,000 customers in the Tema region upon completion.
To further improve service delivery, ECG has also established four additional operational centres to ensure quicker response to customer complaints.
He added that the upgrade was expected to raise total capacity to about 60 MVA, improving flexibility and reliability in power distribution.
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Source:
www.graphic.com.gh