The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications Ken Ashigbey has revealed that theft of telecommunication materials has increased especially in the Ashanti region.
Mr. Ashigbey says the stealing of active devices which enhances communication between Ghana and abroad is on the rise, especially in the gold region.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, he lamented that between August 2020 and till date, the chamber has recorded 115 theft cases involving the active devices.
Out of the number of cases recorded, Kumasi has the highest number of cases representing 45%, he stated.
He disclosed that some persons have been arrested and are currently being prosecuted and for that reason, the thieves have relocated e to Tamale.
He added that the Ashanti region recorded some 43.9% of cases followed by the Greater Accra with 15.7%.
“The unfortunate acts occasionally cause intermittent network disruptions and customers experience network challenges in the surrounding areas of these affected eight regions including Ashanti, Bono, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, North, Volta & Western,” the chamber noted.
For the passive equipment theft from 2017 to March 2022, Greater Accra leads with 461 theft incidents (32%) Ashanti Region follows with 375 incidents (26%) and Eastern Region follows with 270 incidents (19%).
“Over this period over 440,000 gallons of diesel, 804 B.T.S batteries, 786 generators batteries, 124 DC-AC Inverters, 102 AVR Transformers, 26 AC Units and 8 Fire Extinguishers are among the item stolen.”
In line with this, the chamber is “offering a very handsome reward” for information leading to the arrest of persons involved in telecommunication equipment thefts.
“Additional amounts would be given to whistle-blowers when the culprit is prosecuted and jailed.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana