As Court Hears Case of Suspects

The National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) has attributed frequent nightly electricity blackout in some areas to what it alleged are some unscrupulous individuals who habitually go around cutting down copper wires of the electricity network around town.

This was revealed yesterday before Magistrate Moses Richard by one of the company’s technical personnel, Mr. Juwara, as he testified in a criminal case brought by the state against Jawara Ndow and Bakary Sonko.
The two suspects were arraigned before the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court for receiving stolen property and stealing the property of NAWEC, a charge to which both accused persons pleaded guilty. Mr. Juwara explained to the court that not all electricity blackouts are caused by the company but that there were in fact some unscrupulous individuals who go around tampering with the already installed copper cables and service wires, resulting in interruption of electricity.

According to the facts of the case as narrated by Sgt. Jahateh, NAWEC has in the past received numerous complaints from customers and consumers to the effect that their copper cables and service wires had been tempered with. As a result, he went on, the NAWEC law control unit mounted a surveillance, which led to the arrest of the accused, Bakary Sonko, at Jimpex, who then led them to the place where he sold the copper cables and service wires. He said Jawara Ndow was thus arrested for receiving stolen property from Bakary Sonko. He added that the two suspects were then escorted to NAWEC head office and later to Serrekunda Police Station where they were formerly charged with the offence.

In handing down sentence following the accused persons’ own plea of guilt to the offence, Magistrate Richards stated that stealing from public institutions was becoming too rampant, adding that NAWEC has suffered a great deal because of such acts. He warned that as a public institution if NAWEC suffers, it is the public that will bear the brunt.

He finally sentenced the accused persons to a fine of D10,000 each in default to serve two years imprisonment.