Court jails electrician, scrap dealer over telecom equipment theft

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A Kayunga electrician has been sentenced to six years in prison for vandalizing and stealing telecommunications masts.

Disan Ssekalevu, 29, an electrician and resident of Ntooke village in Kayunga district, was charged alongside Edrick Miravumba, 23, a scrap dealer in Kisenyi, a Kampala suburb, with removing and tampering with telecommunication installations, theft and being in possession of stolen property.

They were convicted on their own plea of guilty.

Prosecution case 

The defendants confessed in court that on June 6, 2026, in Village Nine, Ntinda, in Nakawa Division, Kampala, they removed and tampered with a telecommunications mast at the Ntinda Primary School tower by taking and stealing the Universal Base Band Processing unit.

The property belongs to American Tower Corporation.

Ssekalevu was further charged with stealing two Universal Base Band Processing Boards, property of MTN Uganda Limited, valued at $19,682 (about sh70million).

Miravumba was charged with receiving stolen property.

The court heard that in June 2026, he and others, still at large, received eight Universal Base Band Processing Boards belonging to Airtel and MTN. They knew or had reasonable grounds to believe that these items were obtained unlawfully.

Sentencing

During the sentencing of the convicts, Chief Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu of the Standards, Utilities, and Wildlife Court in Makindye emphasised that offences of this nature are on the rise in the country and pose a threat to the security of Uganda.

Kamasanyu agreed with State Prosecutor Kevin Bakulumpagi from the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), who stated that vandalism and theft of telecommunications masts are rampant. These acts lead to significant issues, such as people losing communication, disruptions in transactions, adverse effects on health and education, and financial losses for telecommunications companies.

She noted that the costs of replacing the stolen equipment fall on the companies, and such thefts result in the government losing revenue due to the ensuing blackouts, which generate income for national development. Consequently, she argued that offenders should be kept in prison.

Ssekalevu was sentenced to six years for each of the two counts of tampering with telecommunications masts and theft.

Kamasanyu stated that Ssekalevu deserves a harsh sentence due to his status as a habitual offender. In 2025, he was convicted of related offences but only paid a fine of sh3m. Barely a year later, he resorted to similar crimes, which underscored the need to keep him out of society and deter future offenders.

The court found a sentence of three years appropriate for Miravumba, noting that buyers encourage vandalism by providing a market for the stolen items, which often end up in spare parts shops in Kampala.