UMEME are calling for tougher penalties provided by the law that will deter the perpetrators of power theft from the rampant vice.
The electricity distributor says that while several arrests have been made, many have not been convicted despite pleading guilty which they attribute to the weak and obsolete law.
Paul Ssewava Ssempira, UMEME Mbale District Manager said prosecuting individuals caught in the act will make stealing power an expensive practice.
He was speaking at the workshop between Umeme and Police, Directorate of Public Prosecution, and the Judiciary from the 12 districts in the Bugisu region.
Ssempira revealed that since August 2016, ‘Fagiya’ an operation aimed at curbing incidences of electricity theft, has achieved many milestones in the Bugisu region.
“Collections have improved from an average of 94% in 2015 to 100% in 2017, losses have dropped by 7% from an average of 55% in 2016 to 48% in 2017 and the number of new connections annually has more than doubled from 3,541 to 8,431” Ssempira said.
As a result of increased enforcement operations, he said, the methods of power theft have since evolved from the more obvious use of hooks to use of single source underground connections which are difficult to identify.
Ssempira disclosed that the thieves had resorted to using hooks only at night.
However, Trevor Kigenyi, Umeme Regional Manager noted that the current penalties more or less encourage people to commit the vice since they are not deterrent enough. He said the Electricity Act of 1999 needs to be amended to introduce tougher penalties.
“We have arrested over 138 power theft suspects and produced them in Court of law, 18 have plead guilty and none has been convicted,” he said.
Kigenyi said the low success rate in court is attributed to the knowledge gap regarding the Electricity Act of 1999, its application and the legal remedies in dealing with those convicted of power theft.
“Although we have been lobbying to have the Electricity Act, 1999 amended to introduce tougher penalties to stop power theft, it is yet to be revised,” Kigenyi said, adding, “the laws have to change to make power theft deterrent. Kenya has done it; power thieves pay up to Ksh 1m in fines or jailed for up to 10 years”.
The workshop seeks legal interventions to end the vice, which UMEME says has stifled further investments in building new networks, connecting more consumers, improving service delivery and lowering the end-user tariffs due to revenue loss.
Currently, the penalty for power theft, if convicted, ranges from caution, community service to a maximum of Shs 2 million fine or a three year jail sentence. These penalties for power theft and illegal connections in Uganda are among the lowest in East Africa
Annually, UMEME loses an estimated Shs 100 billion to illegal power connection and vandalism.