{UAH} Bugisu residents paying with their lives for electricity theft

Bugisu residents paying with their lives for electricity theft

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In Summary

• Many people in the sub-region access power illegally simply by hooking wires onto live high voltage lines that go through their land or by the roadside.
• The Minister for Energy, Ms Irene Muloni, said government is aware of the rampant power and copper wire thefts in eastern Uganda and called for a concerted effort by RDCs and security officials to end power thefts at trading centres where many people have died due to electrocution.
• The secretary general of FDC, Mr Nathan Nandala Mafab, who doubles as the Budadiri West MP, said the widespread nature of illegal connections signals more deaths in the sub-region as long as people do not refrain from it.

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By David Mafabi

KAMPALA. The compound is completely quiet. Trees sway violently as perched birds chirp in Mukuubu Village, Mutoto Sub-county in Mbale District.
The family has just lost a son. Unlike the traditional commotion that accompanies mourning among the Bagisu community, family members and other mourners remain in silence with only tears streaming down their cheeks.
"We wailed only once, the day news broke that our son had been electrocuted due to sagging electricity wires from illegal connections," said a relative.

Such is the practice in the area whenever a person is electrocuted in the villages due to illegal connections. And Umeme, the national power distributor, said illegal power connection last year cost Shs106 billion, up from Shs73 billion the previous year, with Bugisu sub-region topping in theft of electricity.
According to Mr Stephen Namonyo, a resident of Mbale District, the families have even coached children and everyone to say persons electrocuted died from snake bites. Such victims are hurriedly and silently buried because of the fear of being arrested by police or Umeme officials.

A police investigation in 2015 indicated that at least 13 people were electrocuted in the Mt Elgon sub-region each week due to illegal power connections, with six cases registered in Mbale District alone.
The Mt Elgon police spokesperson, Ms Diana Nandawula, said the number could be higher because most families bury electrocuted loved ones in haste and without informing the police.
"I know that some families have been burying their loved ones silently but we want to work together with the communities to help us identify these power thieves. Theft of power does not only affect those who steal it, but also the law-abiding citizens. So there is need to end this," she said.
A walk through the villages in the districts of Bulambuli, Manafwa, Sironko, Bududa and Mbale attests to the vice.

Illegal connections
Many people in the sub-region access power illegally simply by hooking wires onto live high voltage lines that go through their land or by the roadside.
The vice is mostly perpetuated by men who tap the current and distribute power to homes and small businesses, according to some area residents.
The Mblale District deputy RDC, Ms Pamela Watuwa, said many people in villages in Bugisu sub-region, are being electrocuted while illegally tapping electricity in rural areas using telephone cables.

"When many families lose children after electrocution, they claim the child died of meningitis. There are also those who say the child died of a snake bite and I know that many have been electrocuted and buried secretly for fear of being arrested," Ms Watuwa said.
She said although electricity has been extended to various villages under the rural electrification programme, the number of deaths due to electrocution is worrying and that the public should be sensitised about the dangers of the vice.
Ms Watuwa said trading centres and villages in Mbale, Bududa, Manafwa, Bulambuli and Sironko districts are the most affected by illegal connections.

An illegal connection goes through a banana plantation to a house in Wanale Sub-county in Mbale District. Photo by David Mafabi

Although records at Umeme- the power distributor, indicate that between 2012 and 2016 there were more than 1,000 deaths in Mt Elgon area and Masaka as a result of electrocution, the Umeme media manager, Mr Stephen Illungole, said communities often bury the dead quietly for fear of being reprimanded.
Mr Illungole said there is high level of electrocution in Mbale and its surroundings but what seems to present a big challenge to electricity officials is that the power 'thieves' are not only elusive but also hostile, ready to fight whoever dares them.

"We have reports that Umeme officials who visit these villages to disconnect such illegal connections are often beaten up and chased away by matchet- wielding residents. We hope to start an operation to mop out these culprits soon but this will take us some time," said Mr Illungole.
This comes at a time when officials at the power distribution company, Umeme, are decrying the rampant theft of wires and power, saying this has greatly sabotaged their operations and service delivery in Bugisu sub-region.

Weak legislation
The Minister for Energy, Ms Irene Muloni, said government is aware of the rampant power and copper wire thefts in eastern Uganda and called for a concerted effort by RDCs and security officials to end power thefts at trading centres where many people have died due to electrocution.
"All the rampant power thefts are due to a weak legislation. Under the law, power thefts and illegal connections are not considered as serious crimes. The only sentence the company has ever secured for illegal connections is two months in jail. I think all of us should create awareness against meddling with electricity when you are not an engineer," said Ms Muloni.
The parliamentary Committee on National Economy former chairperson Xavier Kyooma, told Mbale residents in October last year that government will only resume rehabilitation of the roads in Elgon sub-region when residents end illegal power connections.

He said government had resolved to suspend tarmacking of Bulambuli, Namagumba-Budadiri, and Mbale-Wanale roads until the demand was met
Mr Illungole said the power thefts have affected the business and made it very expensive for the good customers who genuinely pay.
He said power thefts and vandalism in eastern region alone cost the company about Shs19.2 billion in 2014/2015.
He added that illegal connections have also caused stray currents, shock hazards and fluctuating voltages and this has led to de-energising of transformers.

Challenges
The secretary general of FDC, Mr Nathan Nandala Mafab, who doubles as the Budadiri West MP, said the widespread nature of illegal connections signals more deaths in the sub-region as long as people do not refrain from it.
"As leaders we must join Umeme to condemn this illegality and save lives. I want to appeal to all our local leaders to join the fight against this vice that is killing our innocent children," said Mr Nandala Mafabi.

The Umeme eastern region manager, Mr Trevor Kigenyi, said: "As Umeme, we hope to engage the communities through community policing and sensitisation."
Mr Kigenyi, however, adds that community hostility is the biggest challenge, especially in Budadiri, Bududa, Manafwa and Namagumba but that they are preparing to take action.
The MP for Manjiya County in Bududa District, Mr John Baptist Nambeshe, however, said Umeme does not have the incentive to fight power thefts adding that people have even gone to the extent of erecting poles and illegally connecting themselves.
"If Umeme has itself failed, they must walk the talk otherwise what do they expect us to do when these are our voters, how do you expect us to go and arrest them. Many of these people tell us the power they are consuming belongs to their government and that we should keep quiet," said Mr Nambeshe.

But Mbale Umeme officials blame the local MPs and other political leaders hailing from the sub-region for the wide spread illegal connections and accuse them of failing to sensitise the community against engaging in illegal and risky connections.
"It is amazing that area MPs are not alarmed by the rising number of people often electrocuted in their areas. We expect them to do the needful to advise people to desist from the practice but unfortunately they have not," said Mr Illungole.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

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