By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: Senior officers at the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) are in trouble over allegations that some of them are involved in vandalizing electric masts.
SpyUganda has learnt that the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) is investigating the head of security at UETCL over the rampant vandalism of high voltage electric masts. Also facing investigation is the entire team in the control unit. The investigation comes a few days after an operation which led to the recovery of five tons of electric masts, angle bars and bolts from a shop in Kisenyi, Kampala. The seized angle bars were valued at Shs1 billion. A single angle bar costs Shs500,000 and a whole electric mast of high voltage current goes for over Shs400 million. CID Spokesperson, Charles Twine, said that “The investigation started after we realised that all Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras procured by UETCL purposely to monitor the safety of electric masts suspiciously went off during the same time of the vandalism.” The Police said that in some of the incidents where CCTV cameras were on and images were clearly captured, the team at the UETCL control room never bothered to alert police to conduct investigations and arrest the culprits. Police detectives thus suspect there could be a deliberate move within UETCL staff especially those in the control room to switch off cameras whenever vandalizing is to take place.
Another line of investigation police are following is possible connivance of factories that make iron bars, contractors and angle line suppliers. “We have reason to believe that even the supplier and contractors could be behind this. A contractor is sure of a job because he will be called to replace them once they are vandalized. For suppliers, they are sure that they have business once the masts are vandalized,” Twine added. He revealed that their investigations had since established that UETCL spent close to USD1 million to purchase CCTV cameras to protect the electric masts which transfer high voltage current to countries like Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda. Police said government has incurred high expenses to replace vandalized masts, yet the same problem keeps recurring.
