CIMG Telecoms Company of the year, Vodafone Ghana is leading in its efforts to stamp out cable theft by rewarding community members who have been vigilant in ratting out the culprits plaguing the Vodafone network with the theft and destruction of copper and fiber cables and affecting quality of service. Vodafone Ghana is working with local police and has awarded up to fifteen individuals for their bravery.
These actions have led to the arrests of youths in three areas in the Greater Accra region and saved Vodafone Ghana thousands in revenue. When these cables are cut, customers in the surrounding areas experience a network outage while Vodafone tries to repair the damaged cables or replace them and restore service.. Community members have been increasingly frustrated by the disruption and have started to work together to stamp out the theft. As a result of their bravery, five people have been imprisoned and six more cases are before the courts.
Mr Kofi Mintah, one of the community members of Dombosco in the Winneba area had erected the foundations of an ICT building. It came to the community's attention that vagrants were using the unfinished building to store stolen cables. Mr Mintah, was informed of the situation and he acted quickly by informing the police who subsequently apprehended the culprits and caught them red handed.
Mr Mintah said he was perturbed by the thieves using his premises as a holding ground for stolen goods and was very impressed by the community members vigilant response. He was awarded GHC 500 by Vodafone Ghana to thank him for the part he played in catching the thieves and to foster good relations with his community members he distributed the funds to his community members for helping clear his name and for catching the thieves. Vodafone Ghana realises the implications these cable thefts have on their customers as well as the rising investment in replacing the cables. Michael Kofi Mbroh, Head of Corporate Security at Vodafone Ghana said 'We are very grateful to community members who are working with us to stamp out this unfortunate turn of events. We feel one of the ways to show support and encourage more community spirit is to award these members for their diligence. If anyone sees anything suspicious they can call our special shortcode 155 which is manned by our personnel 24hrs a day.