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.
Wellwishers aid a woman who had suffocated over excessive inhalation of teargas on Tuesday. Courtesy photo.
Police in Jinja city are holding 30 youths for leading a strike and vandalizing vehicles in Namulesa
cell in Northern City
division. Key of the suspects in detection at
Jinja Central Police Station are Ezra Kube,
Alex Lubaale, Tadeo Mugerwa and Abbey Waiswa.
They are accused of vandalizing six vehicles registration numbers UAK 952X, UAM 795S, UAV 349L, UAT 400H, UAW 423D and
UAM 652C on Tuesday while protesting an operation by power
distributors Umeme targeting illegal power connections within
their area. They lit old car tyres and dumped them in the middle of Jinja-Kamuli
highway hence blocking traffic.
They also pelted security personnel and UMEME staff with stones. The
situation prompted police to retaliate by dispersing the angry protestors with
teargas. 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.
Kiira Regional police spokesperson, James Mubi says
that the suspects face two counts of vandalism and inciting violence. He
says that the suspects will appear in the court of law. "Police
strongly cautions members of the general public to avoid power theft because
it's criminal, causes accidental deaths due to poor wiring among other
dangers," he says.