A 20-year-old Nigerian, Abdul Abubakari Sadiq, has been convicted by a Weija Circuit Court for stealing a water meter.

Sadiq, charged with intentionally and unlawfully causing damage to a meter belonging to Ghana Water Company Limited, pleaded guilty. He, however, denied the charge of stealing.

The Court, presided by James Kojo Botah, convicted the accused person on his plea on 27th February 2024. Abubakari Sadiq was sentenced to pay a fine of GHȼ2,400.00 or face a six-month imprisonment.

The Management of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Accra West Region, had caused his arrest and subsequent conviction. Sadiq is expected to be in court on April 11, 2024, in respect of the charge of stealing.

On February 23, 2024, Sadiq was caught by a resident of Kasoa Amanfrom Toptown with a water meter and a standpipe tap in his sack. Sadiq, who was earlier seen strolling in the area with his scrap dealer’s truck, entered a compound and broke the meter there, thinking there was no one at home.

The noise of the breakage woke an occupant of the house up. He was arrested and sent to the Amanfrom Police Station. He was subsequently arraigned before the Weija Circuit Court and convicted on 27th February 2024.

In September 2023, Marvin Godwin, also a Nigerian, was arrested in Kasoa Nyanyano for meter theft and was convicted by Linda Amissah at the Ofaakor Circuit Court. He is still serving his sentence in jail.

The Ghana Water Company Limited, in a statement signed by its Accra West Regional Communication Manager, Solace A. M. Akomeah, said stealing of meters was one of the challenges the GWL faced in its operations.

She said the Kasoa/Nyanyano area in the Accra West Region was notorious for such acts and that no day passes without its district offices in those communities receiving reports of missing meters.

This challenge, she said, greatly affected GWCL’s objective of achieving a 100 per cent metering ratio nationwide.

“It is important to note that without water meters, our customers are billed on estimates, a situation which usually generates undue tension between them (customers) and our commercial officers,” she said.

“As we seek to win the battle against meter stealing, we will bring all culprits to book and ensure they receive the appropriate punishments,” the statement said.

GWCL, therefore, urged the public to be on the lookout for such miscreants and report them to the police for redress.