Bugisu residents blame power theft on high tariffs

Residents of Bugisu Sub-region have attributed the persistent illegal connections in communities to high costs.

Mr Stephen Nandaya, a resident of Busamaga Ward in Industrial City Division in Mbale City, last week said the costs of connections and other related tariffs should be affordable to ordinary Ugandans.

Cases of power theft have been rampant, resulting in electrocutions.

Last week, two people were electrocuted in Mubono Village in Mukhuyu Sub-county in Namisindwa District after they reportedly came into contact with live electric wires.

Mr Samuel Wewuda, another resident, accused power distributor Umeme of being slow in connecting customers.

“I urge Umeme staff to expedite the process of connecting customers who have applied or else people will continue illegally connecting themselves,” he said.

Mr Hassan Ibrahim, a resident of Maluku Adra, accused some Umeme staff of conniving with locals to steal power.
 “After connecting you, they send another group of Umeme staff to disconnect and arrest us. Sometimes they give us metres which are not in our names,” he said.

However, Mr Trevor Kigenyi, the head of Umeme regional operations, advised residents to apply for power through government connection policy (ECP), which is free.

“They should apply via my Umeme Online portal and will have to pay only Shs20,000 for survey and inspection and [after that], wait for power,” he said.

Mr Kigenyi said the other option is through Umeme Sasula Oyake, where people apply and pay a connection fee of Shs720,883 but without a pole and they get connected within 10 days.

“But if it is with one pole, bare conductor, the client will have to pay Shs2.3m and as for one pole, insulated conductor, it goes for Shs2.7m,” he said.

Mr Kigenyi said they launched a  door-to-door campaign following the rampant power theft and electrocutions in sub-region.

“We have been receiving many reports from police about power theft and electrocutions and this operation is aimed at saving lives of women and children, who are more susceptible,” he said.

Mr Kigenyi said the company losses stand at 32 percent in Mbale, while in districts in northern region, they are at 17 percent, down from 57 percent in 2017.

“We have made savings of about half of what we were losing because when we started the operation against power theft and illegal connections in  2016,  the company was losing about Shs34b annually,” he said.

Mr Michael Oputu, the Umeme manager of Mbale branch, urged local leaders to sensitise residents about the dangers of power theft and other illegal activities.

“Unlawful connections not only lead to death, but also cost the economy the much-needed electricity to power businesses and light up communities,” he said.