By Mulengera Reporters
In the last 8 years, the legal department of National Water & Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has actively been prosecuting cases and criminal matters at the Standards, Utilities & Wildlife Court that is currently based at Makindye. It’s ably headed by Chief Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu.
For such a long time, the public utility company suffered setbacks and operational constraints occasioned by water thefts, illegal connections, illegal reconnections, meter bypasses, theft of pipes, theft of meters, theft of chain links enclosing water supply boosters aka sub stations and theft of batteries that power the sub stations.
Vandalism acts targeting water supply infrastructure like pipes have also always been a big problem. All these diminish the Corporation’s ability to efficiently deliver water services to the people besides costing colossal sums of money to replace. Vandalism also disrupts water supply which diminishes customer satisfaction levels and thereby damaging the Corporation’s reputation as an efficient public utility body.
Through intelligence-led operations, deliberately involving community level leadership structures like the LC1s, NWSC has been able to keep catching culprits occasioning such damage and disruption.
In some other cases, some actors engage in fraudulent schemes, such as extorting money from unsuspecting customers and promising cheaper connections or reconnection while claiming to be officials or staff from NWSC, all of which complicate matters for the Corporation, its customers and the general public.
Meter bypassing (whereby one consumes water without the same being accurately recorded or captured at meter reading time) has also been rampant-and its mainly done by washing bay operators and owners of commercial buildings. This results into such high water-consuming customers ending up paying for far much less water than they actually consume and thereby hurting the Corporation’s revenue collection efforts.
In most cases, engagement is prioritized whereby an entity previously involved in water theft owns up, admits wrongdoing and is supported to make good-and life carries on. Making good means being audited and permitted to pay all that is due and the relevant fines too and matters end there-provided such an offender keeps good on his or her promise to reform and stop illegal water access and consumption.
Because Ugandans will always be Ugandans, there are some offenders who remain cagey and refuse to change course. Such offenders end up having their matters escalated to Court for full blown prosecution. And gratefully, the NWSC legal department has the DPP authorization to directly bring and prosecute cases at the Makindye-based Chief Magistrates Court.
And in the last 8 years (counting from 2017), NWSC has turned out to be the strongest defender of public utilities infrastructure by successfully prosecuting offenders who vandalise or tamper with installations by way of stealing meters or engaging in water theft.
According to Brownie Ebal, one of the NWSC lawyers involved in prosecution of cases at the Makindye-based specialized utilities Court, a total of 66 cases has been prosecuted by the Corporation in the name of the Ugandan state. Of these, 62 ended in convictions and only three in acquittal. Only one remains ongoing and the hearing is scheduled to resume on Monday 22nd September at the Makindye Court.
Successfully prosecuting 62 cases out of the total of 66 translates into 94% conviction rate, which is represents unmatched performance. Other MDAs like UNBS, UCC, UWA etc prosecute cases in this utility Court too but NWSC’s near 100% conviction rate remains unmatched.
Available literature that Mulengera News has reviewed indicates that the heart of nearly every case is theft of water, materials or infrastructure that essentially belongs to the public. Meter theft remains the commonest crime followed by tampering with works and finally water theft which is chiefly occasioned through illegal connections, illegal reconnections and meter bypassing.
Batteries, chain links and water pipes also get frequently vandalized or outrightly stolen-all of which are challenges the Corporations legal department, headed by Legal Services Director Aloysius Kaijuka, remains prepared to confront at all times.
Relevant literature available at the utilities Court, and which this website has reviewed, shows that those convicted upon prosecution by prosecutors from NWSC have been sentenced to cautions, community service, fines and imprisonment ranging between two months and five years.
Her Worship Kamasanyu is proud of the fact that through handing down severe sentencing, her Court has served the deterrent purpose while enhancing the safety and protection of water infrastructure. Would-be future offenders have to think twice before committing any offences.
Officials at NWSC are grateful for the partnership between their legal department and the specialized Utilities Court because the resultant benefits have been enormous.
They include revenue protection through restitution and imposition of fines, and enhanced operational efficiency through expediting resolution of cases as the Makindye Judicial officers can now concentrate on and prioritize such cases. Public confidence in the Corporation has also increased because community members have ended up seeing NWSC as vigorously and vigilantly defending public infrastructure.
Emboldened and motivated by the near 100% conviction rate, the prosecutors at the Corporation evidently remain committed to keep winning not only inside the Court room but also deliberately for the people of Uganda whose public good-related interests the Corporation exists to serve. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
