Two people died from electric shocks Sunday in the city of Praia in Cape Verde, one of them while trying to steal energy through a secret connection, the country’s Electricity Distribution Company (EDEC) said on Monday.
In a statement, EDEC said the first incident occurred on Sunday afternoon, when a man was killed in a house with a secret connection in the Bela Vista area, without a contract and without an electricity meter.
Hours later, a woman also died from an electric shock in the Achada Santo Antonio area while trying to steal electricity.
In a statement, EDEC expressed regret over the deaths and called on people to legalise energy and be aware of the dangers of electricity theft, especially during the rainy season as is happening these days.
“These are moments of horror caused by the two losses that make us urge the public not to follow the path of electricity theft and fraud, mainly avoiding incidents that take human lives,” the company lamented, also calling for the condemnation of any practice of energy theft.
ADEC is the new electricity distribution company in Cape Verde, one of three that led to the disappearance of the northern and southern branches of the then Electra and its split.
Others are the Cape Verde Electricity Production Company (EPEC SA) and the National Electricity System Operator of Cape Verde (ONSEC SA).
In January, then-Electra President Luis Teixeira, who headed ADEC, warned that energy theft and fraud were threatening the sustainability of the sector.
“We’re talking about 112 gigawatt-hours of energy that we’re losing every year. We’re talking about 25% loss nationally,” he said at the time.
In energy theft cases, the business leader complained about delays in the administration of justice, adding that from 2017 to 2022, 3,840 criminal cases were referred, of which 1,061 were considered, and 2,779 remain pending (72%).
Clandestine connections to the electrical grid, usually done incorrectly, have caused several electrocution deaths in Cape Verde in recent years, in some cases killing children.
According to the company, in 2022 alone, there were six deaths from electric shock and several incidents with serious injuries.