A welder and a chainsaw operator have been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by a Kumasi Circuit Court for stealing cables belonging to both the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Ghana Telecom (GT). Abass Osman, 27, welder and Kwabena Amankwaa, 29, a chainsaw operator pleaded guilty to the charges of stealing and causing damages and were jailed 10 years each in hard labour. Prosecuting, Police Chief Inspector Appiah Kubi told the court presided over by Mr Ernest Yao Obimpeh, that the convicts lived at Suame in the Kumasi metropolis. He said on July 23 this year, at 0200 hours, the police were on their normal night patrol duties at Suame and its environs when they spotted the two carrying fertilizer sacks containing the cables at two different places. In their caution statements, Abass admitted stealing the cables but Amankwaah claimed the contents belonged to a friend who was at large. The court later ordered the release of the cables to the owners. Source: GNA