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A man, Terry Ampofo, has accused Vodafone Ghana of causing the death of his brother, Michael Ampofo, through the installation of their fibre broadband cables.

Addressing a press conference on September 5, 2022, Terry Ampofo explained that Vodafone Ghana installed fiber broadband cable very close to an 11,000 volts Electricity Company of Ghana high tension – a move he contends is against industry practice.

According to him, the Vodafone cables have metal stiffeners that conduct electricity making them dangerous.
He indicated that his brother died as a result of touching these cables a year ago.

“To make matters worse, experts have confirmed that the metal that runs along fiber cable should not enter premises exposed. Fiber cable on its own cannot carry electricity but these Vodafone fiber cables have metal stiffeners running along them.

“When they touch an electric cable, the insulation material can be exposed and transmit electricity to the premises and its very easy for a customer to accidentally touch the exposed metal which are left very close to the routers. As showed in the next picture and video. Any person touching this exposed metal stiffeners ran the risk of serious injuries or even death which has happened to my brother,” Terry Ampofo said.

A year on after the demise of his brother, Terry Ampofo says the loss has affected the development of Michael’s children – one of whom saw the charred body of his father.

He says all attempts to get Vodafone to pay compensation to the family have proven futile, leading it to seek legal redress.

“Just over a year ago, actions of Agents of Vodafone Ghana resulted in the death of my junior brother Michael Ampofo. This has led to a great lost to the family including his 3 young children who lost the dependency of their father and have been left with a great deal of emotional tremor. Sadly, the burnt body of the father was discovered by one of the children whose sleep and development has been greatly affected by this incident.

“Since the incident, reports after reports has indicated that Vodafone Ghana was liable due to installing their fiber broadband cable too close to ECG 11,000 volts high tension cable, which is against industry and international standards. Vodafone has rebuffed every attempt by the family to seek compensation so the case is now in court,” he added.

Terry Ampofo has advised the public to immediately check their fibre broadband installations in order not to be at risk.

“For safety reasons, I will advise every Vodafone broadband customer to check immediately, how their cable is connected from outside to their house to make sure the fiber and ECG cable are not too close. They also need to make sure that there are no exposed metal running along the fiber cable in their house or premises,” he concluded.

Read below the full statement of Terry Ampofo

Good Morning ladies and gentlemen of the Press. Thank you all for coming to this conference at a short notice. My name is Terry Ampofo.

Just over a year ago, actions of Agents of Vodaphone Ghana resulted in the death of my junior brother Michael Ampofo. This has led to a great lost to the family including his 3 young children who lost the dependency of their father and have been left with a great deal of emotional tremor. Sadly, the burnt body of the father was discovered by one of the children who’s sleep and development has been greatly affected by this incident.

Since the incident, reports after reports has indicated that Vodaphone Ghana was liable due to installing their fiber broadband cable too close to ECG 11,000 volts high tension cable, which is against industry and international standards. Vodaphone has rebuffed every attempt by the family to seek compensation so the case is now in Court.

I have called a press conference today because this bad installation that killed my brother may be all over the country, and others could be affected. The public need to know that the dangers are still prevalent because Vodaphone Ghana has done a similar type of installation in my house.

Yes, in my own house after the death of my brother. Vodaphone used ECG high voltage cable to support the fiber broadband cable serving my internet. As could be seen in the picture, video.

To make matters worse, Expects have confirmed that the metal that runs along fiber cable should not enter premises exposed. Fiber cable on its own cannot carry electricity but these Vodaphone fiber cables have a metal stiffeners running along them. When they touch an electric cable, the insulation material can be exposed and transmit electricity to the premises and its very easy for a customer to accidentally touch the exposed metal which are left very close to the routers. As showed in the next picture and video.

Any person touching this exposed metal stiffeners ran the risk of serious injuries or even death which has happened to my brother. For safety reasons, I will advise every Vodaphone broadband customer to check immediately, how their cable is connected from outside to their house to make sure the fiber and ECG cable are not too close. They also need to make sure that there are no exposed metal running along the fiber cable in their house or premises.

Thank you all for you patience and I will be happy to take any questions.