KABALE, UGANDA: A peaceful demonstration that was organized for tomorrow by a section of residents in Kabale District against the continued power outages has been called off following a meeting with officials from UMEME.
Residents since Monday this week, took to social media protesting the continued unreliable supply of power in the District arguing that inconsistent supply has affected both their businesses and their income since they spend most of the time in darkness and are unable to operate equipment that needs a constant power supply.
Following the social media threats about holding a peaceful demonstration by matching through Kabale town to the offices of UMEME Kabale Branch, the Kabale Resident District Commissioner Godfrey Nyakahuma summoned the UMEME officials to respond to questions being raised by residents at Cephas Inn hotel in Kabale district.
During the meeting with the organizers of the planned demonstration led by Barnabas Tugumisirize, the UMEME Operations Manager for Kabale district branch Mr Mwagale Douglas, and the Network Engineer Jonathan Kawooya admitted that there has been a problem of constant power outages which they attributed to growing and harvesting of trees along the power lines that affects the connectivity.
They asked the public to always take care while harvesting trees that grow along the power line as the government continues to finish Mirama-Kabale-Rubanda high voltage power line which they said will be a long-term intervention to end constant power outages.
The construction of the power line that is scheduled to be completed in 2024 has reached Bukinda in the Rukiga district.
Speaking to journalists today afternoon, Mr Nyakahuma warned the public against indulging themselves in strikes saying that he has been reliably informed that the problem is being fixed.
When contacted, Tugumisirize accepted that they decided to call off the strike for a period of one month as they wait for UMEME to fix the problem as promised.
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