Two former UMEME staff arrested over power line vandalism

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A joint security operation in Bombo on November 14 resulted in the arrest of two former UMEME employees believed to be at the centre of a syndicate responsible for vandalising electricity lines in Luweero district.

According to the Savannah Region Police spokesperson, Sam Twiineamazima, the 7:30 am operation targeted suspects linked to a growing wave of power infrastructure theft that has caused recurrent outages and major financial losses.

The suspects, identified as Godfrey Kamoga of Bajjo Kisingiri village and Geofrey Kasaga of Namaliga West village, were arrested after intelligence reports placed them at the centre of the illegal trade in stolen electrical materials.

Both men, who previously worked with UMEME, allegedly used their technical knowledge to cut, steal and conceal electricity cables.

During the operation, Twiineamazima said the two suspects led officers to multiple stores in Nkokonjeru and Bajjo, where security recovered two rolls of bare conductors, five rolls of three-phase ABC wires, quantities of small single-phase ABC cables, pliers, guy grips and several other electrical materials used for illegal connections.

Investigators believe the recovery points were part of a wider storage and distribution chain supplying stolen components to clandestine operators.

All the recovered exhibits, together with the suspects, have been transferred to CID headquarters for further examination and case development.

Twiineamazima said security is now pursuing two other suspects, identified only as Medi and Ismail, who are believed to be part of the same network.

Officers are also tracing additional stores suspected to be used for concealing stolen materials before they are sold or redistributed.