Four UEDCL staff arrested over switching off power during VP Alupo’s Katakwi visit

At least four Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) workers, including a mother of a 1-year-old baby, have been arrested over allegedly switching off power during Vice President Jessica Alupo’s visit in her ancestral Katakwi District.

The Thursday visit was in line with the ongoing 3-day Ateker reunion festival, which started on Wednesday.

The detained UEDCL staff include assistant linesman Isaac Okuta, administration officer Sylvia Agiro, Martin Chepruii and Michael Bedijo.

Katakwi RDC Maj Godfrey Katamba ordered their arrests, accusing them of “deliberate sabotage and negligence of duty.”

“The vice president was hosting foreign dignitaries and Ugandan ministers at her home and the UEDCL staff slept off on job,” Maj Katamba noted.

He explained that the arrests came after government officials reached out to the accused at their office in Katakwi District, urging them to restore power but in vain.

“What UEDCL staff did was insubordination, hence we had to take action. The judiciary will have to make its pronouncements on this,” he emphasized.  

Speaking to Monitor on Friday, the RDC further described the blackout as a sign of poor service delivery, yet Uganda has a national generation capacity exceeding 1,300 megawatts. 

According to Maj Katamba, Alupo had a delegation that comprised high level officials from Turkey, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania as well as national religious and political leaders.  

“The office of the RDC is meant to supervise government projects and ensure that service delivery is untampered with,” Maj Katamba emphasized.  

He encouraged workers at the power distribution agency to develop a positive attitude towards clients.

“The people at UEDCL should change their work attitude towards the clients. Despite calls to have power issues rectified, they have always remained nonresponsive,” he observed. 

UEDCL spokesperson Jonan Kiiza said the actions taken by the RDC are regrettable, adding that the woman who was arrested is a breastfeeding mother.

 “His decision is demoralizing and likely to paralyze service delivery in Katakwi District. Arresting all staff did not restore the power and neither did the RDC reach out to the supervisors of the technical team before escalation,” Kizza added.

Kiiza explained that the UEDCL staff were detained while in service.

“The workers had reached out to rectify the line fault at the transformer, and when they got back to office to pick additional accessories, police surrounded the UEDCL Katakwi office and arrested the entire staff

However, he emphasized that they are cooperating with the Katakwi security officers over the matter.