Africa-Press – Uganda. According to the State minister for energy, Mr Sindronius Okasaai, government is due to spend at least Shs1b to replace five transmission towers that were vandalised at the weekend in Mukono.
This is not the first incident of its kind though perhaps one of the grandest in scale. The minister disclosed that government spends at least Sh2b annually to replace vandalised power lines. This kind of crime causes massive disruption in service.
This time, the tampering with transmission towers took more than 100MW off the grid. Given the rate at which government is haemorrhaging money to fix the gaps resulting from this criminal activity, some effort needs to be invested in trying to find a lasting solution to the vandalism.
An ad-hoc security committee is in place with police and other security agencies all involved in efforts to catch the vandals.
It is now believed that the vandalised materials end up in the hands of scrap dealers. There is need to invest further in understanding both the motivation and modus operandi of the thugs who have turned this into a regular business.
The grand scale of the vandalism suggests that the robbers are well organised and possibly have specialised knowledge on the workings of this system. It is baffling how the vandals managed to execute these crimes meticulously time and again, getting off scot-free. The consumers and the government are left licking their wounds every time. Stringent penalties are provided in the Electricity Act (Amended) 2022, with long jail terms prescribed for anyone caught in the act of vandalism. What remains now is to apprehend the culprits and crack the whip on those who have made it a habit to engage in this vice.
Regularising the business of dealing in scrap, just as we have done with many other trades will also go a long way in ensuring information flow and narrowing the market for these stolen goods.
Investigations also need to be carried out to establish who else stands to gain from the theft of these materials and how the vandals manage to pull off the crimes.
Tampering with national electrical installations is a massive breach of national security and should be handled with all the severity that this matter requires for the sake of the consumers and the overburdened public purse. The full force of the law should be brought to bear on the vandals and their collaborators.
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