Govt seeks to make theft of electricity very costly

Govt seeks to make theft of electricity very costly

A person who taps service wires, tampers, damages or destroys an electricity metre to interfere with accurate metering, commits an offence, and is liable, on conviction, to a fine or imprisonment not exceeding 10 years. Photo| File The Parliamentary Natural Resources Committee has said they are seeking to make theft of electrical energy and vandalism of electrical equipment a very expensive affair to deter the vice that continues to cause huge losses for both government and consumers.

While responding to Daily Monitor inquiries on the progress of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022, Mr Emmanuel Otiam Otaala, the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, said they had finalised deliberations in the Bill and were now writing the report.

The Bill proposes to increase funding to Electricity Regulatory Authority from 0.3 percent to 0.7 percent of sector generated revenue, stagger electricity transmission to omit one bulky purchaser and provide punishments for theft of electricity and vandalism of electrical equipment.

Mr Otaala said that whereas most of the proposals in the Bill are important, the Committee had taken serious interest in deterring theft of electricity and vandalism of electrical equipment that has wider implications.

“We want to make the penalty [for theft of electricity and vandalism of electrical equipment] tough. We want to make it like a billion [shillings] or 50,000 currency points. When people cut down electric towers, it creates so much destruction, which results into new costs for government. Like in the case of the Lira-Kamdini line, out of a total length of 60 kilometres, 23 kilometres have been vandalised. You find that government is spending double on making transmission lines. So, we must make it really very expensive for those doing it,” he said.

Under the current law, penalties, according to government, are not deterrent enough to discourage theft of electrical energy and vandalism of electrical equipment.

“These criminal acts have consistently increased the cost of operation and maintenance of electricity infrastructure as well as the commercial losses experienced by electricity distribution companies,” the Bill reads in part, noting that the amendments should provide for deterrent punishment for vandalism of electrical facilities and theft of electrical energy.

Under the amendments, the Bill proposes that any person who taps cables or service wires, tampers, damages or destroys an electricity metre with the intention of interfering with the accurate metering of electricity, commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine or imprisonment not exceeding 10 […]

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