A staff at the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), William Keh, at Dambai in the Krachi East Municipality, has duped some 1,479 individuals worth GH₵14,790 through a fraudulent meter registration scheme.
In April 2024, Keh allegedly deceived some Assembly members in the area by claiming to have procured meters for registration.
Those Assembly members were requested to register their residents who needed meters. However, it was later discovered that the meter procurement claim was false.
A Ghana News Agency three-month investigations has uncovered that the suspect, Keh, collaborated with six Assembly Mombers from various electoral areas, collecting GHC10 each from victims under the guise of meter registration.
The Assembly members, unaware of the scam, facilitated the process in their electoral areas including Katanga East, Dormabin North, KpareKpare, Kwame-Akura West, Dambai Zongo and Dambai Lakeside.
At KpareKpare Electoral area, a total of 243 individuals were registered, 96 persons registered at Katanga East, 282 took part in the registration exercise at Dormabin North, 127 individuals also registered at Kwame-Akura East, 300 residents at Dambai Zongo and 440 individuals respectively at Dambai Lakeside, with Assembly members from the various being conduits.
The suspect collected monies from the affected electoral areas during unofficial meetings, including using funeral programmes to collect the loot from unsuspecting victims.
For instance, the suspect used the funeral grounds of the late Krachi East Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Bernard Aborkugya Mensah, to transact business rather than at the ECG office, raising concerns about his intentions.
A delegation led by the presiding member (PM) of the Krachi East Municipal Assembly, Mr. Rockson Okru, has visited the ECG District office and found that the management was unaware of the exercise.
During an investigation, Keh on tape acknowledged to the GNA his misconduct and requested a meeting to resolve the issue.
However, the GNA investigator declined to meet the team at a designated place, citing safety concerns.
A second meeting scheduled at A.V. Pub was also declined as Keh, a church leader, was concerned about being seen by church members.
A third meeting finally took place at Oti Radio, a local station in Dambai.
At Oti Radio, Keh accepted responsibility for his actions and requested a three-month period to refund the loot to the affected Assembly Members.
He also pleaded to the GNA to tamper justice with mercy and drop the story citing his previous misconduct at Kpando in the Volta Region, this would lead to outright dismissal.
Meanwhile, GNA investigations uncovered that the suspect was previously interdicted for three years in Kpando, in the Volta Region for similar misconduct before being reinstated after promising to be of good behaviour, and transferred to Krachi East.
The GNA’s visit to the ECG Municipal head office in Dambai showed that the undertakings by the suspect were not sanctioned by the employer.
However, the team was left stunned when Madam Irene Odame, the ECG Municipal Manager stated that her outfit had not received any official notification or letter regarding the fraudulent adventure by Keh.
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