Ghana Water Limited (GWL) has uncovered illegal water connections valued at approximately GH¢5.5 million within just four months, following intensified enforcement operations carried out in collaboration with the National Security.
Managing Director of GWL, Adam Mutawakilu, disclosed this in an interview describing the scale of the infractions as alarming. He said investigations revealed entire water treatment sachet plants illegally connected to the system, alongside commercial entities fraudulently billed as domestic consumers.
He explained that some offenders went as far as installing bypasses to evade metering, resulting in significant revenue losses for the utility company. To clamp down on the practice, GWL set up a Revenue Enhancement Taskforce in August, made up of three specialised teams working with security agencies.
According to the Managing Director, GWL has so far recovered a little over GH¢1.3 million from the illegal connections identified between August and December. He added that the company’s legal department has begun processes to prosecute offenders, warning that culprits will be taken to court to deter future violations.
To sustain the gains, the MD said GWL has engaged National Security to expand the task force from three to 12 teams, to accelerate detection across the country. The expanded operation is expected to further reduce non-revenue water losses.
“With the work of the three taskforce teams, non-revenue water dropped from 52 per cent in January to 49.4 % by November. That is encouraging, so we have engaged National Security to expand the teams to 12.
“Within the three to four months, the estimated bill amounted to about GH¢5.5 million, and we have recovered a little over GH¢1.3 million. The legal department is pursuing the cases in court,” he said.
