By Mark N. Mengonfia – mmenginfia@gmail.com
A Bill seeking to make Power Theft a criminal offense has suffered setback when Monsterrado County Senator, Saah Joseph indicted executive of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) for creating power theft across the country.
The Bill was recently introduced at the Liberian Legislature by the Executive Branch of Government seeking for passage, but during one of the hearings at the Liberian Senate on Monday, Senator Saah Joseph said the law is not necessary for now.
The stealing of power provided by the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) has become a national menace, with the state power company loosing over US$35 million annually, according to the government in Monrovia.
The upsurge in power theft has prompted President George Manneh Weah to submit a Bill to amend the Penal Law to provide strong penalty for the act.
A communication from the President read during 26 Day sitting of the Second Session of the of the 54thLegislature on Tuesday, submitted an enactment into law by the Honorable House “AN ACT TO AMEND THE PENAL LAW CHAPTER 15, BY ADDING THERETO A NEW SECTION 15.88 TO PROVIDE FOR POWER THEFT.”
The Liberian leader spoke of the serious setback the rising incidence of power theft is causing for the operation of LEC.
However, the Montserrado County lawmaker from the ruling CDC party said: “The LEC is her own problems and not the ordinary citizens.” He went on to say “Citizens are crying for connections, but they are not getting those connections.”
Speaking in a rather angry mood, the CDC lawmaker said citizens have cried for connection over and again but the management at the LEC have not been in the position to provide meters for them.
“They are doing nothing to meet the citizens’ demand, but they are talking about power theft Bill,” he added. Senator Joseph also accused the LEC of purchasing outdated transformers for connection in Montserrado County, after receiving the said huge sum of money in the tone of US$20million from the Norwegian Government.
When the lawmaker was quizzed about what he makes about the law introduced by the Liberian President, Senator Joseph said he is not against the passage of the Bill, but the corporation should be contemplating on doing more connections through the distribution of meters across the country rather than passing a law on power theft.
He emphasized that the failure of the entity to connect more communities in Montserrado County is causing power theft.
The Montserrado County lawmaker further alleged that illegal connections are done in close consultaion with some staff from the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC). He said the LEC must give account of the money instead of stressing on power theft Bill.
Senator Joseph added: “all transformers purchased by the LEC are spoiled. They must make sure to connect all communities in Montserrado County as envisioned by the Norwegian Government.”
He indicated that the adherence to the mandate of the Norwegian Government in connecting various communities will help curtail power theft. Speaking earlier, Grand Cape Mount County, Senator, Varney Sherman accused the Liberian Government of consumming large portion of electricity without paying her fees as required.
He said “What is responsible for the LEC poor performance is that the Government doesn’t pay its bill.He emphasized that LEC once threatened to cutoff the President and he suspects it is still happening.” Senator Sherman questioned the management of LEC whether the passage of the Bill will resolve the issue of power theft as anticipated.
“There is a syndicate and there is a need for public education to inform the communities that paying syndicate is more expensive than buying from the LEC,” Senator Sherman warned. On Senator Sherman’s statement, the management of LEC said the syndicates are stealing signifcant amount from the Liberian people.
The management also added that everyone is encouraging the Government to pay her monthly bills. At the same time, Grand Kru County, Senator Peter Coleman, has revealed that there is no power theft without the consent of employees.
Senator Coleman wants the management to first strive to get those he calls ‘pseudo staffs’ out of the corporation before talking about power theft Bill.
“The syndicates or big bosses are right within the LEC. We need to get to those big bosses because they are around encouraging power theft,” Senator Coleman added.
After the hearing, members of the media made efforts to speak with the management at the LEC for clarification on Senator Joseph’s allegation, noted that the head of the top management team of the LEC at the Liberian Senate remained tightlipped as he walked away from Legislative Reporters.