Ghana Water Limited (GWL) has deployed 200 National Service Personnel to recover outstanding water bills totaling GH¢916 million, as the utility provider intensifies efforts to stabilize its revenue base.
Managing Director Adam Mutawakilu said the initiative is part of a broader strategy to tackle revenue leakages and improve payment compliance among domestic consumers.
“We are also engaging 200 National Service Personnel, this time they will not work in the office, they will go out and go after those who owe the arrears so that we can reduce the arrears. As of June, our arrears stood at GH¢916 million, and their primary responsibility is to go after these arrears while also helping customers understand how to use the MoMo app to pay,” he stated.
Speaking in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, Mutawakilu noted that only 20 to 30 percent of domestic water users currently pay their bills digitally, describing the situation as a major operational challenge.
To address this, GWL has tasked its Customer Care Assistants, who routinely visit homes to read meters, to also educate customers on using the Mobile Money platform to settle bills.
The Managing Director emphasized that the National Service Personnel will be deployed directly into communities rather than stationed in offices, identifying customers with outstanding debts and ensuring arrears are recovered.
He warned that without these targeted interventions, it would be difficult for the company to reverse its revenue challenges and sustain operations.
The move underscores GWL’s push to strengthen its financial position amid rising arrears and low digital payment adoption, while aligning with broader government efforts to expand mobile money usage and improve utility revenue collection.
In related developments, GWL has uncovered illegal water connections worth an estimated GH¢5.5 million over a four month period, following intensified enforcement operations in collaboration with National Security.
Investigations revealed that some water treatment sachet plants had illegally tapped into the company’s distribution system, while several commercial entities were fraudulently registered and billed as domestic consumers. Some offenders also installed bypasses to avoid metering, leading to significant revenue losses for the utility provider.
In response, GWL established a Revenue Enhancement Taskforce in August 2025, comprising three specialized teams working with security agencies to identify and clamp down on illegal connections.
To sustain these gains, Mutawakilu said GWL has partnered with National Security to expand the taskforce from three to 12 teams nationwide, speeding up detection and reducing non revenue water losses.
“With the work of the three taskforce teams, non revenue water dropped from 52 percent in January to 49.4 percent by November. That is encouraging, so we have engaged National Security to expand the teams to 12,” he said.
Mutawakilu also announced that 41 district managers will be reassigned by January 15, 2026 as part of intensified efforts to tackle illegal water connections and improve discipline within the utility.
The decision follows an internal performance assessment that revealed persistent failures in addressing operational challenges, particularly the rising incidence of unauthorized water connections across several districts.
“Any illegal connection has something to do with the staff of Ghana Water Limited. Since this operation started, we have dismissed several staff,” he said, stressing the need for stronger internal accountability.
Mutawakilu attributed the action to weak supervision and an inability by some managers to enforce discipline within their jurisdictions. “They could not instill the discipline that is needed,” he said, adding that the reassignments form part of broader reforms to strengthen accountability and restore public confidence in GWL’s operations.
He revealed that in May 2025, management issued clear performance benchmarks to all district managers, giving them six months to deliver. “I gave district managers six months to achieve certain targets. I told them that if they did not achieve them, they would be reassigned,” he explained.
A nationwide assessment conducted at the end of November 2025 reviewed the performance of all 103 district managers, resulting in the decision to reshuffle a significant number. “Out of 103 district managers, 41 of them will be reassigned on January 15, 2026,” he stated.
He urged staff to uphold integrity and remain vigilant in monitoring water connections, warning that those caught facilitating illegal connections will face strict consequences.
The comprehensive reforms come as GWL continues to grapple with significant operational challenges including illegal connections, non payment of bills, and low adoption of digital payment platforms, all of which have severely impacted the company’s financial sustainability.
