The Attorney-General’s (A-G) Department has received docket on four policemen, accused of stealing assorted items in the Osagyefo Power Barge at Effasu, near Half Assini, in the Jomoro municipality, in February this year, from the Western Regional Police Command.
This is to enable the police command know the next action to take on the prosecution of the case.
A chief state attorney, Ms Patience Klinogo, who confirmed receipt of the docket by A-G, to the Ghanaian Times, here on Friday, said that the Department would study the docket and give its advice to the police on the way forward.
The Western Regional Police Command began investigations after Lance Corporals, Peter Zator and Ibrahim Mohammed, were arrested for allegedly stealing electricity pylon cables, fridges and other valuables in the 77-meter long power generation floating vessel at Effasu.
The suspects were nabbed while loading the stolen items onto a Mercedes Benz cargo truck following a tip-off.
The two policemen had since been on interdiction.
During preliminary investigations, the suspects mentioned the names of two other colleagues as accomplices in the theft.
The Osagyefo Power Barge, which was purchased in 1999, was supposed to add 125 megawatts of power to the national grid, but work on the plant was suspended due to a dispute relating to the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) entered into between Ghana and Balkan on July 27, 2007.
It is recalled that similar theft occurred on the Osagyefo Power Barge on Friday, April 4, 2004, as the Half Assini District Police Command intercepted large quantities of equipment and accessories meant for the upgrading of the critical power generator.
The equipment and accessories, including a power generator, boxes of new filters, electrical cables, large numbers of transformer radiators, generating units as well as other fittings loaded into two heavy duty cargo trucks, were retrieved.
The plant was built by Ansaldo, in Italy at Navalmare Yard, and was acquired by the government of Ghana in 1995 with financial assistance from the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan.
In October 2002, the barge was moved to the Sekondi Naval Base in Sekondi, the Western Region, until 2005, when it was taken to its current location at Effasu.
FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, SEKONDI
