UMEME officials within Jinja area have raised a red flag over the increasing loses accrued from power thefts.
Their Jinja area comprises of Njeru municipality, Kayunga district, Jinja city, Jinja district and Magamaga town council.
Officials say that due to continuous power thefts, they lose 4.1 gigawatt hours per month, which is valued at 2 billion Shillings.
UMEME’s Jinja area manager, Paul Ssempira says that they serve 24 million units to 43,496 domestic customers and 204 large scale industries.
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.
While addressing journalists in Jinja city on Friday, UMEME’s Kampala East regional operations manager, Rose Oyella says that, several short circuit related deaths are never reported by the relatives of the deceased for fear of reprimand however, available statistics indicate that, eight children have lost their lives due to illegal power connections in the past 16 years.
Oyella notes that they plan to organize community sensitization drives aimed at sensitizing communities and local leaders alike on the dangers of illegal power connections and how best they can embrace rightful procedures in procuring legal power connections within their homesteads.
Meanwhile Jinja’s resident city commissioner, Kyeyune Ssenyonjo says that UMEME personnel should amicably engage with grass root security committees, so as to avoid chaotic scenes, resulting from resistance by some elements within the communities during implementation of their operations against power thefts.
-URN
