General News of Thursday, 2 August 2001

Source: The Chronicle

Ghana Telecom hit by rampant theft

The nation's communications giant, Ghana Telecom (GT), has been hit by persistent cases of theft, causing the company to lose several millions of cedis.

Sources say six security personnel of the corporation are currently on interdiction following their involvement in a case of theft at the Adenta Substation in Accra.

According to the sources on the June 19, last year, the six raided the Adenta Telecom Stores and stole four drums of cables, estimated at over ?90 million. The incident was reported to the Odorkor police but was later withdrawn by the GT’s Security.

A "Ghanaian Times" journalist who took pictures of the suspected thieves was also asked not to print them out to the public, Chronicle learnt.

Colonel Christopher Kwabla Agbotiate (Rtd), Security Coordinator of Ghana Telecom, confirmed that the company is faced with rampant theft, which is affecting its operations in certain parts of the country.

He also confirmed that six personnel of his outfit have been arrested for stealing some cables.

The Security Coordinator, however, denied that the suspects had been left off the hook, saying that the case was still under police investigations.