Mr Francis Ameyibor, CDA Executive Director who stated during interaction with media practitioners at Ho, the Volta Regional Capital over the weekend noted that initial consultation indicates that both the public and officials have difficulty detecting counterfeit electrical products.

“The greatest obstacles to the fight against proliferation of counterfeit electrical products in the country, is the ability of ordinary citizens and at times public officials to detect fake products from genuine ones. It is therefore paramount for stakeholders to work together and develop simply guidelines to aid the public,” Mr Ameyibor noted.

He said CDA Consult is working in collaboration with the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and other strategic partners including security agencies, dealers and manufacturers, the media as well as broad section of the public to work towards exposing the fake electrical dealers.

Mr Ameyibor, said CDA Consult in partnership with the GSA and other stakeholders, were embarking on a national crusade dubbed: “Avoid Patronage of Counterfeit Electrical Products,” the first in the series is slated for December 14 to 16, at Woezor Hotel at Ho.

He said the platform form would also offer strategic Electrical Appliance Dealers, Manufacturers, Dealers in Electrical Cables and other stakeholders’ opportunity to educate the public on technical differences between their product and the fake ones.

The CDA Consult Executive Director explained that the Ghana Standards Authority, National Fire Service, Ghana Police Service, Electricity Corporation of Ghana, Communication Experts, and Legal Experts would take turns to explore and discuss the issues of fake electrical products. He said participants would also be equipped with skills and modalities to intercept and stop the supply chain to protect customers from potential harm.

The participants would also be exposed to what to do when one encounters counterfeit electrical products. Mr Ameyibor said at the end of the three-day workshop a Regional Road Map and an Anti-counterfeit electrical product strategy would be developed to aid in dealing with fake electrical products.

“The proliferation of counterfeit electrical goods and products in the country is assuming quite an alarming proportion. The electrical counterfeit market is spreading and developing at the blind side of law enforcement agencies and regulators. “We need urgent steps and measures to sanitise our market, Mr Ameyibor, explained,” he said.

He said: “CDA Consult is creating the platform and would build the necessary forces against the proliferation of counterfeit electrical products. We are focusing on raising awareness among the public regarding counterfeiting”. Mr Ameyibor called on the Electrical Dealers, Manufacturers and Dealers in Electrical Products to join the crusade…contact us through: communicate2develop@gmail.com.

He said the national crusade against the proliferation and use of counterfeit electrical products would hit the ten Regional Capitals and 150 out of the 216 District Capitals; it aims at discouraging the patronage of counterfeit electrical products and to direct taste towards genuine electrical products.

Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) provides tailor made development communication tools necessary for operational transformation and translating dreams into achievable goals and equips clients with mechanism for public education on specific issues.

It also provides effective back-up or frontline monitoring and evaluation tools to ensure value for money delivery of projects, whilst providing clients with skills to deliver timely and accurate information on their activities, work, programmes and projects.

CDA Consult also aims at building a responsive working culture for corporate growth through a social process at institutional levels based on dialogue using a broad range of tools and methods. It also assists client to use continuous and adaptive process of gathering, organising and formulating information and data into argument and to communicate to policy-makers through various interpersonal and mass media communication channels. Source: CDA Consult