In a stunning revelation from Dambai in the Krachi East Municipality, a staff member of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), William Keh, has been caught at the centre of a meter registration scam that defrauded 1,479 residents of a combined GH₵14,790.
It all started in April 2024, when Keh reportedly convinced several unsuspecting Assembly members that he had secured ECG meters for registration. With full trust in his claim and likely eager to help their communities, these local leaders began registering residents in need of meters, asking them to pay GH₵10 each.
Here’s the twist: the meters never existed.
A three-month investigation by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) uncovered that the entire operation was a sham. Keh had allegedly been collecting these fees under pretences, using six Assembly members across multiple electoral areas as intermediaries, unknowingly turning them into unwitting accomplices in the fraud.
The numbers are staggering:
KpareKpare: 243 people duped
Katanga East: 96
Dormabin North: 282
Kwame-Akura East: 127
Dambai Zongo: 300
Dambai Lakeside: 440
Total? 1,479 victims, each GH₵10 poorer.
What’s more troubling is Keh’s method of collection. Instead of using official ECG channels, he orchestrated this operation through backdoor meetings, even using funeral grounds to collect money. One particularly disturbing example was during the funeral of the late Krachi East MCE, Bernard Aborkugya Mensah, where Keh turned a mourning event into a money-making opportunity.
Alarmed by reports of irregularities, Presiding Member Rockson Okru led a delegation to the ECG District Office, only to discover that management had no idea this scheme was even happening. The so-called "meter registration" was entirely unauthorised.
Eventually, under mounting pressure, Keh admitted to the scam on tape and asked for a private meeting to "settle" things. Multiple meeting attempts failed, one was rejected over safety concerns, another over fear of being spotted by church members (yes, Keh is also a church leader). The final meeting took place at Oti Radio, where Keh confessed, pleaded for mercy, and asked for three months to repay the money.
Here’s where it gets even murkier: this isn’t Keh’s first brush with misconduct. GNA’s digging revealed that he was previously interdicted for three years in Kpando for similar actions. He was only reinstated after pledging good behaviour and was then transferred to Krachi East. A classic case of recycling a problem instead of resolving it?
Shockingly, the ECG Municipal Manager, Madam Irene Odame, claimed she had no official knowledge of Keh’s fraudulent activities, with no report, no memo, nothing. How could an employee run such a wide-scale operation without triggering internal alarms raises serious questions about oversight and accountability within ECG.
As the dust settles, one thing is clear: the communities affected deserve answers, transparency, and justice. Whether Keh’s promise to repay the money holds any weight remains to be seen, but what’s undeniable is that trust, once broken, is hard to repair.
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