Vandals destroy, steal over 700 solar lights in Gulu City
An ariel view of Gulu City.
What you need to know:
- On Friday, police confirmed the arrest of the two suspects, bringing the total number of those arrested to 15.
- Mr David Ongom Mudong, the Aswa West Regional police spokesperson, said charges have been slapped against the suspects at Gulu CPS.
Two more people have been arrested by police in Gulu City in connection to a recent sequence of vandalising and stealing solar street lights in Gulu City.
On Friday, police confirmed the arrest of the two suspects, bringing the total number of those arrested to 15.
Mr David Ongom Mudong, the Aswa West Regional police spokesperson, said charges have been slapped against the suspects at Gulu CPS.
Last week, the police paraded at Gulu CPS the suspects who included a boda boda motorist and a fuel pump attendant.
“Since January 2024 to date, along Walter Opwonya Road in Gulu city, several solar panels have been vandalised and stolen by unknown persons, which prompted an intelligence-led operation that led to the arrest of the above suspects,” Mr Ongom said in an interview.
“It should be noted that this is a racket of syndicated criminals and a continuous operation to have the accomplices still at large arrested has been intensified. We call for continuous support towards protecting public assets and government installations,” he added.
Mr Ongom said soon the suspects will appear in court.
Mr Peter Banya, the deputy resident city commissioner for Gulu City East, said: “People are vandalising these streetlights, sometimes you find the batteries have been taken, but the latest is the panels, which have been vandalised; they are too many.”
He noted that some stolen solar panels and batteries have been recovered in the neighbouring districts of Agago, Kiryandongo, and Oyam.
“And the most annoying bit of it is they are being sold cheaply at Shs40,000,” he disclosed.
Mr Christo Balmoi Omara, the Gulu City engineer-in-charge of physical infrastructure, said of the 1,940 streetlights installed since 2017, a total of 742 have been vandalised. Mr Omara said some streetlights have remains of metallic poles and frames with no solar panels, lamps, or batteries.
“We have registered vandalism and theft as reasons why some of the streetlights are not working,” Mr Omara said.
“The city administration intends to restore all the solar streetlights to a functional state. This year, the city has earmarked Shs500 million for the restoration of the solar streetlights, we hope that we can do about 165 solar streetlights this year, and next financial year we also intend to have the same investment for the solar streetlights hopefully,” he explained.
Eng Omara said the damages are worth Shs12 billion.
