Ghana Water Limited (GWL) says it has arrested 4,395 people in Accra for alleged water theft as part of an intensified crackdown on illegal connections and other forms of water diversion.

The company said it deployed 12 enforcement teams across the capital to identify and apprehend households and businesses engaged in activities that undermine its operations. The arrests cover residential and commercial customers found with unauthorised connections, bypassed meters and other illegal arrangements.

Michael Tawiah Klutse, GWL's Chief Manager of Corporate Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, disclosed the figure on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, 10 November 2026. He said the exercise began in August 2025 and had uncovered thousands of cases.

A crackdown that began in August 2025

Illegal water use in Ghana has grown sharply in recent years. GWL says unlawful activities, including unauthorised connections, meter tampering and the theft of water meters, increased significantly between late 2024 and mid-2025.

In response, the company scaled up a nationwide revenue enhancement and enforcement campaign aimed at curbing the practice and safeguarding the water supply. In the Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area alone, more than 2,700 illegal connections were uncovered between the last quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.

The company has described some of the arrangements it found in stark terms. In one widely reported case, a property at Power Land near Ritz Junction on Agbogba Road had three water service lines, of which only one had a meter. In other areas, engineers found what the company calls spaghetti lines, multiple unauthorised pipelines laid in gutters and other unhygienic locations.

Cases now before the courts

Klutse said the cases identified during the exercise had been referred to court, with legal proceedings currently under way. He did not give a breakdown of how many of the 4,395 people arrested had so far been charged or convicted.

Earlier results from the same enforcement drive show how the company is pursuing the problem. In September 2026, GWL said it had identified 685 illegal connections in the Greater Accra Region and recovered GH¢6.5 million in unpaid revenue, out of GH¢18.5 million billed to customers linked to those connections. The remaining GH¢12 million was still being pursued.

Elsewhere, the crackdown has already produced convictions. In Tamale, a 50-year-old businessman, Ibrahim Baako Alhassan, was convicted by the Circuit Court for illegally installing in-line pumps on GWL pipelines. He was fined GH¢3,600 or sentenced to 12 months in prison, and ordered to sign a bond to be of good behaviour.

GWL says it is working closely with the Ghana Police Service to investigate and prosecute offenders, and has warned that staff found facilitating illegal connections will face disciplinary action.

Why the utility is acting

Water that is produced and supplied but does not generate income, known as non-revenue water, places a heavy financial strain on the utility. Illegal connections and meter bypasses reduce the revenue available to maintain treatment plants, repair pipelines and extend supply to new areas.

GWL is Ghana's sole government-owned urban water utility. It manages 84 water supply systems across the country, serving an estimated 14 million people, with urban water supply coverage of about 84.2%.

The company has also deployed 200 National Service personnel as field agents to support revenue mobilisation, strengthen customer engagement and help eliminate illegal connections, with a focus on the Accra-Tema area, where arrears are highest.

What it means for residents

For customers with legal, metered connections, nothing changes. The enforcement drive targets unauthorised connections and meter tampering, not ordinary users.

GWL has urged residents to report suspected water theft and illegal connections to its offices, and to report any staff member suspected of facilitating illegal connections so that action can be taken. Customers who were given a grace period to regularise their service and failed to do so have already been taken to court in some areas, including more than 800 users in Accra West.