By Francis H. Murray
In what seems to be a reaction to the alarming spate of electricity meter theft, residents in the Western Area of Freetown have accused officials of the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) of fraudulently reselling stolen meters at cheaper rate.
Victims of this illegal syndicate say that officials of the national power grid have proffered no solution to the problem even after several complaints but would rather suggest other illegal ways to access old meters which are no longer registered in their system.
Esther Mbayo, a resident of the Kissy Dockyard community told Politico that her meter was stolen last year on the night after she had undergone a medical surgery and she reported the incident at the Kissy Dockyard police post.
“I woke up that night experiencing some pain only to realise that the meter had been stolen. We went to the police and they asked us to buy their pen and book before they could obtain statements from us which we did. They later asked us to supply the meter details and later told us to go and look for suspects,’’ she said.
She said the police referred them to the EDSA office after which she said no investigation was done. She said they did as the police had instructed but were told to put their complaints in writing.
“While at the EDSA office in their meter section, they told us point blank that we would not have the stolen meter again but suggested that we buy another” she narrated.
“We asked them if the meter could be traced because all meters have a unique code, but they said they didn’t have such a system in place. We ended up buying another old meter at Le1, 800,000 with no receipt issued which they brought and installed in four days,’’ Esther explained.
Sinnah Kamara, a medical nurse resident at Black Hall Road in the east of Freetown said her meter was stolen on Monday morning of 22nd February 2021. She said the incident was reported at the EDSA office at Black Hall Road where she was asked to put her complaint in writing as well as pay the sum of Le 300, 000 to get an old meter.
“We wrote the letter of complaint to EDSA and they referred us to the CID. They have asked us to pay Le 300,000 in order to get another meter but said it would take some time to complete the process. So we have refused to pay them a dime until they bring us a meter,’’ she added.
Ansumana Kamara, a resident of an area called Samuels in the Kissy community is another victim who said two of his meters were stolen on the same night and he had since not been able to recover them or get new ones.
He said he had complied with every process and procedures suggested by EDSA and the police including a bank payment of over Le 200,000 as replacement fee which he said had yielded no results so far as the meters are yet to be brought to them.
The recent spike in reports of meter theft has left many wondering about the state of security in the capital especially amid the midnight curfew, but also about the security of electricity meters which should have an identity that should render it useless if stolen and the theft reported to EDSA.
All meters are bought from EDSA and installed by their officials at various customer points mostly outside houses with no security consideration.
When reports of thefts are made, customers are mostly asked to supply details of their meters and encouraged to use such details to block the meters from being used elsewhere. But the supposed blocking of stolen meters has not stopped the incident, begging the questions as to why anyone would buy a meter that doesn’t work or why anyone would risk going to steal something which no one would buy.
EDSA Public Relations Officer would not respond to the allegations.
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