Copper theft on the rise
Aug 17, 2007
THE theft of copper wires has become rampant in the country, leading to electricity blackouts, telephone outage, ATM breakdown, drought and increased bills. The thieves are part of an organised racket responsible for stealing and exporting copper wires and water meters, according to security organis
By Mikaili Sseppuya
THE theft of copper wires has become rampant in the country, leading to electricity blackouts, telephone outage, ATM breakdown, drought and increased bills. The thieves are part of an organised racket responsible for stealing and exporting copper wires and water meters, according to security organisations. Their actions are motivated by increases in international copper prices.
Some of the power blackouts that ordinary citizens mistake for load shedding are a result of copper wire theft, says Said Balaba, Umeme’s Copper Supplies Manager.
Currently, he said, Mbale town has only two power lines because the third one has been vandalised. Countrywide, 300 kilometres worth over $6m (about sh10b) of electricity transmission lines have been stolen over a period of six months. “On some routes, our cables get stolen almost every week,†said Balaba.
Most of these wire thefts take place where the power lines pass through vast bushes, swamps and forests.
They steal the wires mostly during load shedding. Some of them have been electrocuted when power returned suddenly as they cut the wires, but such incidents have not scared away other wire thieves.
Recently, Umeme replaced 50 kilometres of electricity cables between Jinja and Mbale, at a cost of $1m. Such a cost is recovered by raising electricity bills. Hence the copper wire racket is causing unsuspecting Ugandans to dig deeper into their pockets. “When we are calculating the tariffs, the replacement costs of such components has to be taken into account, and thus the rates†said Balaba.
Like electricity cables, telephone wires have been a target of the copper wire racket. For instance, utl has given up on connecting Kabale on the landline due to repeated theft of telephone wires. Consequently, over 300 customers had to resort to cell phones or fixed lines from mobile phone providers. “Every time we bring new connections, they steal them. We have now abandoned Kabale until we get a more permanent solution,†said Wilfred Mwinganisa, an investigations officer with utl.
These thefts are not unique to Kabale. They occur all over the country, says Safunayo Bigirwenkya, utl’s investigation manager.
“This vandalism is a matter of life and death to utl because when our customers lose confidence in our services and change to Celtel or MTN beyond a certain level, we will not be able to continue operating, according to our agreement terms,†said Bigirwenkya.
“The thieves melt the cables down to remove the plastic. What remains is pure, solid copper which they then sell to scrap metal dealers who in turn sell it to bigger operators who export them,†he added.
Because ATMs are connected to banks using telephone links, theft of copper wires also leads to failure of ATMs. Frustrated users then blame the banks. “You can go to your ATM to draw urgently-needed money and find it down. It is quite likely that it is because our telephone cables carrying the data have been vandalised,†says Balaba.
Now it is emerging that some areas that have been complaining about lack of water are in a drought simply because their meters have been stolen by the copper wire racket. Thieves have taken water meters from entire neighbourhoods.
Water meters are made of brass, an alloy of copper and zinc. The National Water and Sewerage Corporation warns that it has become too risky to leave water meters in the open. Consequently, they advise that all their customers should set up lockable boxes to secure their water meters.
“Several suburbs of Kampala which have been complaining of having no water in Namugongo, Kirinya and like places are victims of stolen meters. These thieves are playing with people’s lives because water is life,†said James Okema, NWSC manager for Kampala. “They use children whom they sponsor to steal the metres ‘to supplement their pocket money. Several of these children are in remand homes over theft,†he says.
“There is an apex organisation of the whole thing with many sources at the base, each collecting a little which passes into fewer hands upwards to the top where the collected copper is exported†said Balaba.
In a meeting organised by the newly formed Non – Ferrous Metals Anti-Theft Committee, scrap dealers pointed fingers at employees of the utilities companies, saying they sell the copper wires to them. Sometimes they transport the wires in official vehicles, the dealers said.
The scrap dealers’ leader, James Kato, said they would sensitise other business people about the implications of dealing in copper materials.
The Police, Violent Crimes Crack Unit (VCCU) and the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence have joined the crackdown on copper wire theft, while the utilities officials promised a reward of sh5m to anybody who helped them catch copper thieves.
UGANDA’S COPPER HISTORY
By Vision Reporter
BY the time of independence, copper was Uganda’s third highest foreign exchange earner, following coffee and cotton. In the 1970s and 80s, copper prices reduced significantly.
Consequently Uganda’s sole copper mine at Kilembe near Kasese town stopped mining copper in the early 1980s when the price dropped to $100 per tonne, because it was no longer economically viable.
Cobalt, hitherto a by-product of copper mining, became more economically viable and attracted new investors to Kasese.
However, the rise of copper prices in recent years has given Kilembe Mines Limited hopes of second lease of life. The current price of copper is over $6,000 per tonne. As a result many formerly moribund copper mines are starting to look attractive to investors.
“With the current rises in copper prices it is clearly becoming viable to start mining again. Indeed similar scenes have been played out in other mines that had stopped for similar reasons,†said General Manager KML Fred Kyakonye.
Kakonye estimates that there are about 4.1 million tones of copper ore still remaining at Kilembe.
THE theft of copper wires has become rampant in the country, leading to electricity blackouts, telephone outage, ATM breakdown, drought and increased bills. The thieves are part of an organised racket responsible for stealing and exporting copper wires and water meters, according to security organisations. Their actions are motivated by increases in international copper prices.
Some of the power blackouts that ordinary citizens mistake for load shedding are a result of copper wire theft, says Said Balaba, Umeme’s Copper Supplies Manager.
Currently, he said, Mbale town has only two power lines because the third one has been vandalised. Countrywide, 300 kilometres worth over $6m (about sh10b) of electricity transmission lines have been stolen over a period of six months. “On some routes, our cables get stolen almost every week,†said Balaba.
Most of these wire thefts take place where the power lines pass through vast bushes, swamps and forests.
They steal the wires mostly during load shedding. Some of them have been electrocuted when power returned suddenly as they cut the wires, but such incidents have not scared away other wire thieves.
Recently, Umeme replaced 50 kilometres of electricity cables between Jinja and Mbale, at a cost of $1m. Such a cost is recovered by raising electricity bills. Hence the copper wire racket is causing unsuspecting Ugandans to dig deeper into their pockets. “When we are calculating the tariffs, the replacement costs of such components has to be taken into account, and thus the rates†said Balaba.
Like electricity cables, telephone wires have been a target of the copper wire racket. For instance, utl has given up on connecting Kabale on the landline due to repeated theft of telephone wires. Consequently, over 300 customers had to resort to cell phones or fixed lines from mobile phone providers. “Every time we bring new connections, they steal them. We have now abandoned Kabale until we get a more permanent solution,†said Wilfred Mwinganisa, an investigations officer with utl.
These thefts are not unique to Kabale. They occur all over the country, says Safunayo Bigirwenkya, utl’s investigation manager.
“This vandalism is a matter of life and death to utl because when our customers lose confidence in our services and change to Celtel or MTN beyond a certain level, we will not be able to continue operating, according to our agreement terms,†said Bigirwenkya.
“The thieves melt the cables down to remove the plastic. What remains is pure, solid copper which they then sell to scrap metal dealers who in turn sell it to bigger operators who export them,†he added.
Because ATMs are connected to banks using telephone links, theft of copper wires also leads to failure of ATMs. Frustrated users then blame the banks. “You can go to your ATM to draw urgently-needed money and find it down. It is quite likely that it is because our telephone cables carrying the data have been vandalised,†says Balaba.
Now it is emerging that some areas that have been complaining about lack of water are in a drought simply because their meters have been stolen by the copper wire racket. Thieves have taken water meters from entire neighbourhoods.
Water meters are made of brass, an alloy of copper and zinc. The National Water and Sewerage Corporation warns that it has become too risky to leave water meters in the open. Consequently, they advise that all their customers should set up lockable boxes to secure their water meters.
“Several suburbs of Kampala which have been complaining of having no water in Namugongo, Kirinya and like places are victims of stolen meters. These thieves are playing with people’s lives because water is life,†said James Okema, NWSC manager for Kampala. “They use children whom they sponsor to steal the metres ‘to supplement their pocket money. Several of these children are in remand homes over theft,†he says.
“There is an apex organisation of the whole thing with many sources at the base, each collecting a little which passes into fewer hands upwards to the top where the collected copper is exported†said Balaba.
In a meeting organised by the newly formed Non – Ferrous Metals Anti-Theft Committee, scrap dealers pointed fingers at employees of the utilities companies, saying they sell the copper wires to them. Sometimes they transport the wires in official vehicles, the dealers said.
The scrap dealers’ leader, James Kato, said they would sensitise other business people about the implications of dealing in copper materials.
The Police, Violent Crimes Crack Unit (VCCU) and the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence have joined the crackdown on copper wire theft, while the utilities officials promised a reward of sh5m to anybody who helped them catch copper thieves.
UGANDA’S COPPER HISTORY
By Vision Reporter
BY the time of independence, copper was Uganda’s third highest foreign exchange earner, following coffee and cotton. In the 1970s and 80s, copper prices reduced significantly.
Consequently Uganda’s sole copper mine at Kilembe near Kasese town stopped mining copper in the early 1980s when the price dropped to $100 per tonne, because it was no longer economically viable.
Cobalt, hitherto a by-product of copper mining, became more economically viable and attracted new investors to Kasese.
However, the rise of copper prices in recent years has given Kilembe Mines Limited hopes of second lease of life. The current price of copper is over $6,000 per tonne. As a result many formerly moribund copper mines are starting to look attractive to investors.
“With the current rises in copper prices it is clearly becoming viable to start mining again. Indeed similar scenes have been played out in other mines that had stopped for similar reasons,†said General Manager KML Fred Kyakonye.
Kakonye estimates that there are about 4.1 million tones of copper ore still remaining at Kilembe.