They were charged before the Mbarara Chief Magistrate Benjamin Seruwo with one count of Terrorism contrary to Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 2002, which attracts a death penalty upon conviction.
Katongole was arrested from his hideout in Seguku along Kampala- Entebbe road before being transferred to Jinja central police station for further interrogation.
Gulu City has for almost one week been experiencing persistent power outages which is the backbone for water pumping and supply within Gulu City and the outskirts by the National Water and Sewerage Cooperation (NWSC).
The two suspects were picked up from Bwase zone in Buwenge town council in Jinja district. It is alleged that while Bwase zone, the suspects informed residents that they had been directed to replace their old Yaka meters with new ones.
The campaign involves sensitization of communities in safeguarding electricity lines, on the newly amended electricity act, with emphasis on the penalties involved.
During the launch of the plan on Wednesday, Umeme said the development is aimed at ensuring timely power supply within the sub region, so as to improve productivity in both the manufacturing and services sectors.
The electricity in the market was left on for only the police post that occupies only two rooms of the entire building. Assy Abireeba, the Mbarara City Clerk says they are left wondering how the bill accumulated to that level when the market is closed.
The fire started at 9 p.m. and went on until midnight razed one of the clothing stores which had newly stocked bales of secondhand clothing and shoes. Police’s fire and rescue services unit, alongside Red Cross officials, contained the fire before spreading to the surrounding units within the market.
UMEME’s Jinja area manager, Paul Ssempira however says that despite their efforts to sensitize communities on the dangers involved in power thefts, the vice tends to thrive, which has since compromised the power supply chain to the legally connected consumers.
The suspects went on the streets on Friday and Saturday to protest operations against illegal power connections in the areas of Bugembe. They lit old tyres in the middle of the Jinja-Iganga highway, affecting traffic and businesses along the highway.
UMEME’s corporate affairs and regulatory director, Blessing Nshaho says that, much as they have partnered with agencies to ensure that, most of the trading centres have access to power, electric wires are being vandalized, which has since slowed down connections.
Joel Wambedde, a resident of Namulesa cell says that most residents were angered after noticing that some of the masterminds of illegal power connections in their area were the ones leading UMEME operations.
The victims who are residents of Bugodo village in Kapyanga Sub County in Bugiri district are reported to have come into contact with power transmission lines from loose electricity poles which had fallen in their garden.
Umeme is expected to start evacuation of power from Karuma hydropower plant and needs to continue investing in the distribution network, to not only improve supply but to boost demand too.
The vendors staged demos at 3 points in the market, burning tyres in the middle of the road and blocking vehicles that tend to opt for the route as a way of beating the traffic on the Kampala- Jinja highway.
Mubende Chief Administrative Officer, Lillian Nakamatte says much of the medicines and veterinary drugs disbursed by the government for Mubende and Kassanda districts have gone to waste because of lack of power to keep them under refrigeration.
The fire broke out on December 12, 2015, destroying the factory premises in Kasese. But according to company managers, a report by police in the aftermath attributed the fire to a short circuit resulting from contact between the power line and the metal roof.
One of the eyewitnesses Faizal Kigenyi says the workers had switched off the power supply before they started working on the faulty transformer. However, it is unclear how supply was reconnected at a time when the workers were still fixing the cables. They both died instantly.
