Prime
Amend Electricity Act to curb power theft
The electricity distribution company, Umeme, and Uganda Police Force launched a joint operation against illegal power connections and related activities across the country starting with Kampala. The relaunch of the operation dubbed ‘Komboa’ follows an increase in the level of power losses over the last one year, especially during the lock down, when enforcement was suspended.
According to Umeme, power losses through theft and illegal connections have risen to more than 17 per cent of the total power supplied, up from the 13 per cent recorded a year ago. Komboa is Swahili word for ‘redeem,’ and in Umeme’s case, the operation is aimed at redeeming the network from illegal users and operators, and will involve identifying illegal connections, disconnecting them, arresting and prosecuting the culprits.
The persistence of challenges relating to electricity distribution continues to cause loses in billions of shillings both for the government and the electricity distribution company. Such loses are incurred through unbilled consumption, illegal connection and vandalism.
It is noted that any percentage point lost, the monetary value lost is Shs10 billion, much of which is in Kampala alone.
Although the Judiciary created Utilities, Standards and Wildlife court to handle some of the crimes affecting the electricity sector, the court is yet to create sufficient impact to address the challenges in the sector.
Among the crimes the court is supposed to handle are power theft, illegal electricity connection, and vandalism of electricity equipment’s such as wires and transformers. The electricity sector faces other challenges such as faulty metres, power cutoffs in hospitals, constant electrocutions of consumers, oil poles, wires and transformers, among others.
The Ministry of Energy should complete and present the amendments of the Electricity Act 1999 to Parliament for the betterment of the sector. The amended should include penalty for any distribution company that will cut, standard of equipment that should be used in installation of electric power, should also have tougher penalties that will deter the perpetrators of power theft, and vandalism from the rampant vice, among others.
Finally, the amended Electricity Act should include a provision that makes it an offence for anyone to supply consumers with faulty equipment such as yaka metres. Besides, this section should also include a penalty in case of none compliance.
Patrick Edema,
