Suspected Vandals Charged with Terrorism.

Police have said that all the suspects who are arrested in connection to vandalizing of government utilities including power lines will be charged with terrorism once they are arrested.

This follows a case were five electricity vandals were charged with one count of terrorism contrary to Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act 2002 when they appeared before the Mbarara Chief Magistrate Benjamin Seruwo last week.

Fred Enanga the police spokesperson revealed that the all electricity and utility vandals will no longer be charged with theft and vandalism as it previously happened.He also welcomed the move by the office of the DPP to ensure they prosecute acts of vandalism of utility infrastructure, sabotage and destruction of public property under the Anti- terrorism act, 2002."You are all aware, critical infrastructure acts as the life support system of our everyday existence. Right now, our country has a highly complex and sophisticated system of electricity infrastructure and other utility infrastructure, that all Ugandans and visitors in the country rely on for their health, safety, security and economic well-being. Therefore, any attack or destruction of a single point of our critical infrastructure could lead to disruptions or destruction that could harm the community and the country at large,” Enanga said.

Going forward , he said all agents, collaborators, dealers and brokers of utility infrastructure found with items suspected to be part of electricity lines or any other critical infrastructure will face terrorism charges.He said the joint security agencies, the DPP and all stakeholders under the criminal justice system, remain committed to maintaining the safety of all utility infrastructure in the country and will aggressively pursue, all perpetrators causing significant damage to utility infrastructure.

Enanga further implored all members of the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities around power installations in their areas, to the local council and nearest security agency.

The country has in the past been experiencing several power blackouts caused by vandalism of high voltage power lines.