The Ghana Water Limited (GWL) has ordered the reassignment of 41 out of its 103 district managers after they failed to meet revenue mobilisation and loss reduction targets, the Managing Director, Mr Adam Mutawakilu, has disclosed.

Mr Mutawakilu announced the decision on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, following an internal performance review conducted at the end of the year.

He said district managers had been given six months to meet specific targets, including reducing non-revenue water and cutting outstanding arrears.

“I gave the district managers six months to achieve certain targets and they did not meet them,” he said. “Out of 103 district managers, 41 of them will be reassigned because what is happening in their areas is clear.”

Mr Mutawakilu stressed that the affected officers were not being dismissed but would no longer serve in their current roles.

“You are no longer going to be a district manager,” he said. “You will be given a different role to perform.”

The decision follows intensified action by the company against illegal water connections, which GWCL estimates resulted in losses of about GH¢5.5 million between August and November.

Mr Mutawakilu said the losses were uncovered after the company, in collaboration with National Security, established three revenue task forces in August to tackle water theft.

“From August to December, what we uncovered was heavy losses,” he said. “Within those three or four months, the estimated bill was about GH¢5.5 million.”

He said about GH¢1.3 million had so far been recovered through voluntary payments, while the remaining cases were being prepared for court.

“They paid voluntarily,” he said. “The legal department is now taking steps to send the rest to court.”

According to Mr Mutawakilu, investigations showed that illegal connections were the major source of water losses, surpassing leakages from ageing infrastructure. He said company data indicated that commercial losses accounted for about 78 per cent, compared with 22 per cent attributed to technical faults.

“The illegal connections are the bigger problem,” he said.

He added that many of the illegal lines were installed with the assistance of company staff.

“Most of the illegal connections trace back to our own people,” Mr Mutawakilu said. “You do not get an ordinary person to do such work.”

He disclosed that some staff members had already been dismissed as a result of the ongoing exercise.

To scale up enforcement efforts, Mr Mutawakilu said the number of task forces would be increased from three to 12 by mid-year.

“With only three teams, we saw non-revenue water drop from 52 per cent to 49.4 per cent in November,” he said. “So we are going to expand this to 12 teams.”

GWCL estimates that about 52 per cent of water produced nationwide is not accounted for, largely due to theft and billing inefficiencies. In Accra, where daily demand stands at 210 million gallons against production of 137 million gallons, the company says only 68.5 million gallons reach consumers through approved connections.

Mr Mutawakilu said management would be held accountable for how effectively districts control losses. “Reducing non-revenue water gives me the revenue I need to invest in our goals,” he said.