Minister Ruth Nankabirwa wants NSC to enforce vandalism of electric wires
Despite the government's determination to transmit power to all sections of the country in order to spur economic development, saboteurs who vandalize transmission lines have thwarted their attempts, according to the minister.
According to Nankabirwa, police officers stationed at police stations are unable to combat organized crime including vandalism of electric cables, particularly on the national grid.
Thugs cut down electric pylons and vandalize electric wires that are designed to transfer electricity to other parts of the country, she said, citing Kakira as an example.
Nankabirwa, who was in Tororo town on Thursday meeting district officials as part of a tour of the country’s key power points, said the National Security Council will have to provide the Ministry of Energy with a fully-fledged unit with cameras installed along transmission lines and police-manned vehicles patrolling areas where vandalism is common.
Despite the government’s determination to transmit power to all sections of the country in order to spur economic development, saboteurs who vandalize transmission lines have thwarted their attempts, according to the minister.
The Tororo district chairperson, John Okea, told the minister that the district’s electricity consumption is significant, but that the majority of the district is not covered by the rural electrification initiative.
Apollo Yeri Ofwono, a Tororo Municipality MP, has asked the minister to rethink the rural electrification initiative to include some of the poorest urban people who cannot afford regular connections.
Instead of granting incentives to investors, Tororo County North MP Geofery Ekanya has asked the government to cut energy prices to aid the poor.
Minister Nakabwirwa said her ministry is set to connect power to over 1,000 homesteads in Tororo district as part of a five-year commitment to ensure that power distribution reaches over 60%, especially at a time when parish development models will necessitate electricity for projects run by various enterprises.