Prioritise heartbeat over money

The fire that gutted Kalerwe market on Monday, November 11, 2024 did not make a splash probably because no person lost his or her life.

One takeaway from the incident, though, is the Police’s preliminary analysis, which indicated an unauthorised hook-up to the electricity grid sparked the flame.

Illegal connections were responsible for six of the 14 deaths resulting from electrocution during the first half of 2024.

So, there is need to check the safety risks associated with illegal connections.

To do that, one should address him or herself to the reasons some people give for pinching electricity.

Some pundits argue that the cost of connecting to the grid is high.

However, that ignores the fact that through the Electricity Access Scale-up Project an applicant pays only Shs41,300 to an electricity distributor to verify if the internal house wiring conforms to the regulatory safety standards.

If the premises pass safety test – and are thus eligible for connection, the government picks the tab for each no-pole connection.

That demolishes the argument that the connection cost is still a barrier to households legalising their connections.

Another explanation some people give for illegal hook-ups is the price of electricity, something the Electricity Regulatory Authority, which sets the retail tariffs, is better placed to expound on.

But suffice to say, a household of four, living in a two-roomed tenement and using electricity to illuminate two light bulbs for five hours a day and to charge two mobile phones will consume at most 1 one unit per day or 30 units a month.

Shs20,000 will most probably cover such a household’s electricity bill. That is, the first 15 units, which the government subsidies, cost Shs250 each (Shs3,750 for the block), Shs3,360 caters for the monthly service fee, Shsh3,051 is Value Added Tax, leaving Shs9,839; which when divided by Shs797.3 – the prevailing price for each unit above the sixteenth – gives the consumer 12.3 units on top of the first 15.

For a couple with a combined income of Shsh400, 000 monthly, the Shs20, 000 is 5 percent of the household’s income.

While such a household can turn to either solar, candles or open fires for lighting, the quality of illumination would either be compromised or in the case of candles and open fires, too, pose safety risks.

So, experts and opinion leaders must keep drumming the risk of death by electrocution home. As Steve Jobs, the co–founder of Apple, said during a Stanford University Commencement address in 2005, “No one wants to die. Even people who wanna go to heaven don’t wanna die to get there.”

Our opinion leaders should use channels such as on radio, which according to the 2024 census, is the source of information for 38.3 percent of the households in Uganda.

And they should not underestimate word of mouth. The census found that it is the source of information for 21.5 percent of the households while phone calls came in third, accounting for 14.9 percent. Social media, despite the hype, is a source of information for just 2.3 percent of the households. It is probably mostly the urban folk who use it – and mostly for social networking.

Households that suspect their neighbours could be stealing electricity should pluck up the courage to inform either the power distributors or the local authorities.

If you turn a blind eye to illegal connections, you are not only putting your life at risk of accidentally coming into contact with the live illegal conductors but you are also not being your brother’s keeper.

Prioritise a heartbeat over everything else.

Nelson Wesonga, Communications Officer, Umeme Ltd