The Public has been warned against patronising electrical products based mainly on the low price of the products, the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) stated in Accra on Monday.

“The public must also desist totally from patronising electrical products exposed to direct sunshine and dust, especially the gadgets. We must take the first line of personal safety and precaution.

“Electrical products are built with either high or low voltages as well as elements that must not be exposed to sunshine and dust but unfortunately in Ghana, electrical products are displayed under the mercy of the weather outside shops and along the roadside…patronising such products are dangerous,” Mr Francis Ameyibor, Executive Director of CDA Consult stated in Accra.

The CDA Consult Executive Director urged the public to report any suspicious electrical dealers to the appropriate state agencies. “We must be vigilant in buying electrical products as the issues of counterfeit electrical products are is alarming”.

He noted CDA Consult has rolled-out series of Public education crusade dubbed: “Avoid Patronage of Counterfeit Electrical Products,” to assist stakeholders to identify counterfeit electrical products on the market, expose to dangers associated with patronage of counterfeit electrical products and create a platform for security operatives to enforce laws against sale of counterfeit products in the country.

The first in the series is slated for Ho, Volta Region from Thursday, December 14 to Saturday, December 16.

Mr Ameyibor noted that the CDA Consult in collaboration with stakeholders will use the platform to also educate the public the list of the most counterfeit electrical products and brands in Ghana, and the consequences that such large-scale marketing of counterfeit electrical products generates for people’s safety and health, and impact on the Ghanaian economies.

“CDA Consult will also collaborate with state institutions including; the Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service and the Ghana Standards Authority and other statutory bodies to test major legislations on electrical counterfeiting, and how they are being implemented nationally, in order to help fight against this issue,” Mr Ameyibor noted.

The Anti-counterfeiting educational crusade being undertaking by the CDA Consult also seeks to help professionals understand the dangers associated with counterfeit electrical products.

The CDA Consult Executive Director noted that the issue of proliferation of counterfeit electrical products needs multifaceted approach by all stakeholders to deal with the challenge and the CDA Consult is creating a strategic platform to deal with the problem.

“Stakeholders and professionals have been struggling against counterfeiting for a very long time, from origin to distribution, the networks are known; impacts are well identified and professionals are mainly calling for major shifts, hence the need for public exposure,” Mr Ameyibor noted.

Mr Ameyibor, explained: “We must all join the holistic crusade to sensitise the public against the usage of counterfeit electrical products”.

He said the crusade also seeks to increase the level of public information about the dangers of counterfeit electrical products, reduce the ever increasing sale of the products on the Ghanaian markets, save lives and limit the nefarious effects of electrical counterfeiting.

Mr Ameyibor said the CDA Consult crusade would also focus on equipping public officials with basic information to recognise electrical counterfeit items at first sight.

It also seeks to ensure that officials take stiffer actions against dealers in counterfeit electrical products and also equip electricians and retailers to be able to distinguish between fake electrical products from genuine ones.

He said: “CDA Consult is creating the platform and building the necessary forces against the proliferation of counterfeit electrical products. We are focusing on raising awareness among the public regarding counterfeiting.

“We are creating a platform to expose the public to the main consequence of using cheap counterfeit electrical products – fire outbreaks and/or corporal harms like electrocution, loss of properties, accidents and death”.

He said the national crusade against the proliferation and use of counterfeit electrical products also aim at discouraging the patronage of counterfeit electrical products and to direct taste towards genuine electrical products.

Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) provides tailor-made development communication tools necessary for operational transformation and translating dreams into achievable goals and equips clients with mechanism for public education on specific issues.

It also provides effective back-up or frontline monitoring and evaluation tools to ensure value for money delivery of projects, whilst providing clients with skills to deliver timely and accurate information on their activities, work, programmes and projects.

CDA Consult also aims at building a responsive working culture for corporate growth through a social process at institutional levels based on dialogue using a broad range of tools and methods.

It also assists client to use continuous and adaptive process of gathering, organising and formulating information and data into argument and to communicate to policy-makers through various interpersonal and mass media communication channels.