Katakwi, (UG):- The Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) has spoken out on its four staff arrested over allegedly switching off power during Vice President Jessica Alupo’s visit to her ancestral Katakwi District.
The detained UEDCL staff include; Isaac Okuta (linesman), Sylvia Agiro (administration officer), Martin Chepruii and Michael Bedijo.
The Thursday visit on which the staff allegedly caused an intentional blackout was in line with the ongoing 3-day Ateker reunion festival, which started on Wednesday.
Katakwi RDC Maj Godfrey Katamba ordered their arrests, accusing them of “deliberate sabotage and negligence of duty.” “The vice president was hosting foreign dignitaries and Ugandan ministers at her home and the UEDCL staff slept off on job,” Maj Katamba noted.
The RDC added that the arrests came after government officials reached out to the accused at their office in Katakwi District, urging them to restore power but in vain. “What UEDCL staff did was insubordination, hence we had to take action. The judiciary will have to make its pronouncements on this,” Maj Katamba emphasized.
The RDC, speaking to a local publication on Friday, described the blackout as a sign of poor service delivery, yet Uganda has a national generation capacity exceeding 1,300 megawatts.
According to Maj Katamba, Alupo had a delegation that comprised high-level officials from Turkey, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania as well as national religious and political leaders. “The office of the RDC is meant to supervise government projects and ensure that service delivery is untampered with,” he emphasized.
The RDC encouraged workers at the power distribution agency to develop a positive attitude towards clients. “The people at UEDCL should change their work attitude towards the clients. Despite calls to have power issues rectified, they have always remained nonresponsive,” he observed.
When reached out for a comment, the spokesperson of UEDCL, Mr Jonan Kiiza Friday said the actions taken by the RDC are regrettable, adding that the woman who was arrested is a breastfeeding mother.
“His decision is demoralizing and likely to paralyze service delivery in Katakwi District. Arresting all staff did not restore the power and neither did the RDC reach out to the supervisors of the technical team before escalation,” Kizza added, emphasizing that the UEDCL staff were detained while in service.
“The workers had reached out to rectify the line fault at the transformer, and when they got back to the office to pick additional accessories, police surrounded the UEDCL Katakwi office and arrested the entire staff,” he said.
Mr Kiiza, however, emphasized that they are cooperating with the Katakwi security officers over the matter.
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