Officials of National Security have uncovered how high-tension cables belonging to the state power distributor, ECG were being melted to make aluminum poles and exported out of the country.
Two companies involved in the illicit activity are currently under investigation after 8 Chinese nationals and two Ghanaians were arrested on Thursday, March 27, 2025 in connection with the over 1300 missing ECG containers at the port.
This latest development forms part of investigation into the over 1300 missing ECG containers from the port.
Packed ECG cables yet to be melted
Officials of the National Security and Energy Minister, John Jinapor together with journalists visited the manufactories of these companies on Friday, March 28 where the illegal activity had been ongoing for years since 2019.
Upon touring the site, numerous high-tension cables stashed in containers awaiting to be melted for aluminum products were discovered and confiscated.
Authorities also briefed journalists on attempts by the companies to bury evidence and cover up for their crimes. These companies have now been shutdown with the Minister vowing an end to the illegality.
{Director of Investigations at the National Security Council showing journalists some aluminum products form the ECG cables)
Chief Superintendent Alhassan Osman is the Director of Investigations at the National Security Council said “from the intel we have here, this has been ongoing for so many years. They were producing this from ECG cables and so it is not a new thing and you can imagine the money they make. The cables are sold to them cheap.”
Addressing the press briefly after touring the manufacturing sites in Kpong, the Energy Minister said the law will take its course for the missing containers to be retrieved.
“Since 2019, this crime is being perpetuated on the state, the then government slept on it, this government will not allow this to continue and as Minister I will ensure that we curtail this, we will follow and retrieve these containers. I want my containers, simple as that,” Jinapor assured.
He stressed that the previous management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) would be held liable for over procurement which he said is the cause of the missing containers.
{Samples of aluminum polls generated from the ECG cables)
“They will be held liable and I am writing to the Attorney General whoever superintended over this mess would be held liable. The management then and the head of ECG would have to make a justification for why he would procure GHC8 billion when he has to procure GHC1 billion because if they had stack to their procurement plan, we wouldn’t have gotten here.
“Why we have this problem is that in 2014, ECG’s planned procurement was GHC1.397 billion by the end of the year, they procured GHC 8.2 billion and so they engaged in frivolous expenditure and procured items that they did not have money to clear and that is what has brought us here.
“The same with 2023, their planned procurement was less than GHC 1 billion they ended up procuring GHC8.3 billion, way above what was approved for them,” he stated.
