Opinion: Attack on electricity network demands special operation

Vandalism of electrical installations presents a major setback to achieving access to clean, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy because the vice undermines the financial sustainability of the Electricity Supply Industry (ESI).

For the past years, customers in large parts of the country have been forced to put up with regular power cuts for hours or days because of incidents of vandalism and theft at the electricity networks.

In recent incidents, vandals hit the Kampala-Mukono electricity network and brought down two high voltage transmission lines resulting in massive power cuts in many parts of the country.

The affected areas experienced load shedding for at least three days as engineers worked around the clock to restore and stabilize the power supply.

There is wanton, deliberate, destruction, and damage to the electrical installation by our own rapacious, avaricious and greedy citizens and foreigners.

Electricity distribution transformers are being vandalized for copper windings, oil, bolts, and nuts.  Some of the transformer oil finds its way into restaurants and is used to fry chips and into cottage industries to make cosmetics.

Copper conductors and cables are stolen. Pylons are vandalized for their members (angle irons) and nuts and bolts. Tower members (angle-irons) find their way on to scotch-carts and the nuts and bolts have several places where they are made useful.

Aluminum conductors, when stolen, find their use on caskets and door handles, as well as the three-legged pots that are used on open fires.

How serious is the problem?

Evidence shows that Vandalism is prevalent in the districts of Mukono, Kayunga, Buikwe, Jinja, Kamuli, Iganga, Mayuge, Bugiri, Busia, Tororo, Mbale, Soroti, Lira, Oyam, Kole, Kiryandongo, Nakasongola, Luwero, Mpigi, Masaka, Kyotera, Mbarara, Bushenyi, Kiruhura, Kazo, Isingiro, Ntungamo, Kasese and Buliisa.

Kampala and Wakiso seem to provide one of the biggest markets for the stolen electricity infrastructure assets, according to Hon. Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development.

"The vandalized electricity infrastructure assets are believed to be sold to scrap (steel and aluminum) smelters, some Service Providers of the energy sector who source materials locally, traders of electrical materials, and metal welding workshops who use transformer oil in their welding machines," she said.

In the last two years alone, it is estimated, the government has lost over $ 2 billion to the vandalism of electricity infrastructure.

It is absolutely disheartening when citizens suffer because of the malicious destruction of infrastructure.  The least we can do as citizens is to preserve the little we have for us and our children and future generations.

Electricity infrastructure vandalism relates predominantly to what has been termed acquisitive vandalism: acts of vandalism involving theft motivated by the need to acquire a resource at the least possible cost. This financial motivation is a leading cause of vandalism.

Vandalism does not only impact the financial viability of the electricity supply industry but also the quality of electricity services to end-users.

Impact of vandalism

Vandalism of electrical installations increases operation and maintenance costs, arising from the need for repair or replacement of damaged equipment.

It also increases the cost of deemed energy and electricity losses due to either power theft or leakage from the damaged network.

Vandalism reduces customer satisfaction due to more frequent service interruptions and may lead to a rise in tariffs to cover increased costs, which may, in turn, lead to further dissatisfaction and loss of revenue from customers who opt for alternatives to unreliable main grid electricity.

Interference with the electricity supply network causes power blackouts, threatens the security of our homes, increases the cost of doing business and electricity tariffs, and disrupts vital health and education services as well as our lifestyles.

The other effects include; increased project development costs, extended project delivery timelines, and overall, effects on the economy and national development, Hon. Dr. Nankabirwa explains.

This means that, instead of resources being invested in network expansion to cover every Ugandan, are reinvested in repairing vandalized infrastructure and stolen cables.  More of backward-looking, than forward-looking.

 Addressing the problem

 While the situation is receiving attention and will require a lot of hard work and a lot of resources to make sure we protect our electricity network, we cannot afford the luxury of solving new problems with old solutions.

Efforts to arrest and prosecute these economic saboteurs are ongoing and should be applauded. However, the vice continues unabated. Certainly, the vice should be upgraded as acts of economic sabotage and treated ruthlessly.

A special military operation similar to Special Revenue Police Service (SRPS) needs to be established to check the deliberate destruction of electrical infrastructure. The fight should be 360 degrees, from possible sources, transportation, and the final selling point.

The places that buy the vandalized materials are not helping the situation because they are creating the market. We should see more action by our law enforcement agencies and frequent raids on the suspected businesses buying these stolen cables.

The perpetrators must be arrested and taken out of society because they do not have the best interest of the country at heart.

In the meantime, one has to appeal to members of the community, and the general public to be on the lookout for suspicious activities within our infrastructure.

Yes, the battle to stop these electricity-related criminal activities is getting attention, but it requires concerted efforts and joint action.

The author works for Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA)