By Mulengera Reporters
On Thursday 16th April, relatives and family members of three young boys who at the beginning of this year were caught tempering with and removing telecom installations belonging to American Tower Corporation (ATC) converged at Makindye Chief Magistrates Court.
The telecom vandalism incident happened on 16th December 2025 before the eventual arrest of the three young offenders namely Gilbert Kansiime (aged 15), Joseph Taremwa (aged 16) and Reagan Ssenkoni (aged 19), at the beginning of this year. The three are residents of Mandela cell Kiryatete ward and Kiganda cell western division in Hoima City respectively.
They have since been charged with removing and tampering with ATC’s telecommunication installations which are offences created under Section 84(1)(b) of Uganda Communications Act, Cap 103. The offence was allegedly committed onto the ATC telecom mast situated at Kimbugu village Kimbugu parish in Kikube district.
In the process, they cut and stole or took away without any claim of right solar cables and earthing cables all of which were property of ATC. The ATC tower from which the impugned acts of telecom equipment vandalism took place is recorded in the UCC records as “Tower Code 609820.”
The trio and others still at large were charged under Case Reference No. KBE/CRB043/2026. Their charge sheet is dated 26th February 2026. Whereas Taremwa and Kansiime are self employed Banyoro young men, their co-accused Reagan Ssenkoni is a Muganda who does private business in Kiganda cell western division of Hoima City.
On Thursday 16th April, the matter came up for trial and hearing of the bail application put in by the trio who has been on remand at Luzira prison since February this year.
They are being prosecuted by state prosecutors or lawyers from Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) all whose telecom-related offences are charged and tried under the Utilities, Standards & Wildlife Court which is based at Makindye.
On Thursday, prosecution was represented by Counsel Naziri Kagawa and Kevin Bakulumpagi who argued with defence lawyers over claims that two of the accused persons were actually juveniles who are supposed to be remanded at Naguru or any other gazetted remand home, and not Luzira.
In the end, the trial Chief Magistrate Asuman Muhumuza directed the prisons authorities to immediately have the duo (who was proved to be juveniles) immediately relocated to Naguru remand home as opposed to being remanded at Luzira anymore because that will be in total violation of their human rights as minors.
As for the bail application to have the trio released and attend subsequent trial sessions while coming from home, the defence lawyers made their case and presented people they said were substantial sureties who included a mother, an uncle, siblings and other relatives. Prosecution required time to appropriately respond to the bail applications and the matter was adjourned to the afternoon of Monday 27th March. On that day, the Magistrate will rule on the bail application and have conduct trial with prosecution leading their witnesses.
As for the trial, the prosecution indicated it was ready to lead some of their witnesses to prove their case against the three accused persons but this wasn’t because much of the time went into the hearing of the bail applications.
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And when it emerged that the Uganda Prisons Services (renowned for being logistically constrained) will have difficulties delivering the two minors from Naguru remand home to regularly attend Court at Makindye, for as long as they will remain on remand, Counsel Kagawa announced that UCC was ready to provide transport and meet all the costs involved in making the accused persons come to Court whenever they are required to do so.
He explained that this was important for the accused persons to be made to face justice without delay as required under the laws of Uganda.
Legal teams from UCC have been relentless in ensuring that all vandalism-related offences are relentlessly prosecuted to secure Uganda’s telecom sector, which is an enabler and accelerator of the rest of the economic activities in the country.
The ongoing trial of the boys under 18 years shows that, in Uganda, no one will or can engage in the commission of vandalism-related crimes and be allowed to get away with it. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
