POLICE | MINISTER | OBOTH 

MUKONO - Police in Mukono has in custody two men who were arrested after they allegedly invaded the home of state minister for defence Jacob Oboth disguised as staff of electricity distributor Umeme.

They are also hunting for the third man who is said to have escaped.

It is alleged that the suspects had climbed the electric pole at the minister’s home and were disconnecting power when the minister reportedly confronted and asked them to identify themselves.

All the three men were wearing Umeme uniforms with names scribbled on them. Umeme spokesperson Peter Kauju said the men were not their staff and that they had been arrested and detained.

“We have cross-checked with our teams on the ground and we confirm that these are not our staff. We alert the public that should you encounter any of such suspicious persons please reach us through our integrity hotline 0312360777 for help or report to the Police immediately,” he said.

It remains unclear what the men’s mission was. Umeme Thursday, warned against imposters. 

“It has come to our attention that some impersonators purporting to be working for UMEME are calling new connection applicants, asking them to pay money to get connected. We would like to clarify that all electricity connection applications are done online through the MyUmemeOnline portal. All those customers that applied for free connections through the electricity connections policy from 2019 and are eligible for the no-pole connections will be contacted by Umeme directly.”

Umeme added: “We would also like to remind the public that  Umeme went cashless in 2015. All our payments are received through the over 15 partner banks, banking agents and mobile money. No cash payments should be given to our field staff or anyone purporting to represent Umeme. Anyone asking  for cash so as to carry out their duty  should be reported on our confidential  line managed by Transparency  International; 0312360777, the local  leadership or handed over to the  Police for investigation.”

Other incidents 

Cases of men dressed in utility companies uniform and robbing homes have of recent been common.

Early this year, imposters who posed as National Water Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) staff raided a home of a Chinese family and robbed them of sh100m.

The two men and a woman, wearing hard hats and masks, pretended to be workers of NWSC knocked on the gate to their home and claimed they wanted to have a look at the water system.

In the process of inspection, one of the suspects got hold of the Chinese cook and put him in a chokehold. The suspects also grabbed a maid, bound and put the victims in a room and stole the money that had been kept in another room before they fled.

All this was,  however, captured by a CCTV camera the Chinese nationals had installed in their home. The female suspect was arrested in Ntungamo district where she was constructing a house for her parents, reportedly using part of the robbed money.

She later led the Police to a guesthouse in Bundibugyo district where her other accomplices were arrested as they were about to travel to DR Congo to carry out another robbery.