Terry Ampofo, the senior brother of Michael Ampofo, who died a year ago while having fibre broadband installed for him by Vodafone Ghana workers, has accused the company of causing his brother’s death.

According to him, the deceased purchased the broadband from Vodafone and had it installed in front of one of his three children by workers from the same company, which had an effect on the boy emotionally.

He stated that initially, Vodafone agreed to settle the matter at home, but because the company refused to agree to the family’s terms, the family has finally taken the matter to the law court to seek redress.

Mr. Terry explained that he has gone to the media to raise awareness about this broadband and the manner in which it is frequently installed.

He stated that fear has taken possession of himself and the rest of his relatives due to the fact that he also purchased a broad band from the same company and it was also installed in the attachment of an electric pole, which could cause the same unfortunate incident to him if care is not taken.

Read the full statement below

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.