By Mulengera Reporters
Overwhelmed by evidence the state prosecutors from UCC had adduced, Sadick Sibaminya, a 25-year-old security guard from Kasese, pleaded guilty and was sentence to a jail term for vandalizing and stealing ATC telecom equipment from the Kisengye Kayanja tower site in Kibaale district.
He had been on remand in Luzira since his arrest in March. On being arraigned before Magistrate Adong Molly Alice, Sibaminya immediately admitted to the offence of criminal trespass on the ATC site and for that he was sentenced.
He denied the other two offences of vandalism and theft of the complainant’s radio remote unit valued at Shs10m. The trial on these two has been ongoing since March and he kept serving his custodial sentence deriving from the criminal trespass conviction.
His Thursday sentencing to serve an additional 24 months for vandalism-related offences shows the extent to which the criminal justice system is prepared to go to protect critical telecom equipment and installations.
During his sentencing on Thursday, the legally unrepresented Sibaminya pleaded with the Magistrate to pardon him and to also understand the harsh economic circumstances which pushed him to go vandalize and steal from the ATC site. He said that on that fateful day (7th March 2026), one of his two wives was in the hospital giving birth yet he had no money to pay the hospital bills.
Sibaminya explained that the company which had hired him to serve as a security guard was broke and had taken 2 months without being paid a salary.
The 25-year-old Mukonjo boy, who spoke through an interpreter, added that his other wife is living with his children and life is so hard for her because her family members long abandoned her protesting her decision to get married to him. He said that his continued being away will subject his two wives and children to extreme suffering and destitution.
In giving him a severe sentence, the Magistrate agreed with submissions by UCC lawyers to the effect that vandalism acts were lately on the increase in the Kibaale area and they demonstrated how the same acts negatively impact the government, the public and telecom companies like ATC, Airtel and MTN.
That whenever the service gets disrupted and blacked out as a result of vandalism, the infrastructure owner (ATC) is penalized heavily with having to pay a fine of Shs750,000 for each hour that passes without the network being on.
The public suffer network disruption which is very costly for business operations. There are also costs associated with ATC, the complainant, having to replace the damaged or vandalized equipment, which in this particular case cost Shs10m.
Led by Kevin Bakulumpagi and Nasim Kagawa, the UCC prosecutors argued that there was need for court to protect such critical telecom installations by handing out severe prison sentencing to offenders like Sibaminya so as to deter other would-be future vandals. Prosecution also submitted about the fact that Sibaminya is a repeat offender, having been convicted on his own plea in March by the same court.
On the fateful day (7th March 2026), Sibaminya contracted Ismail Akankwatsa, a boda boda rider from Mubende town, to deliver him to the Kisengye hill where the ATC mast is located under Kayanja Sub County Kibaale district. Akankwatsa left him there and sloped down to the trading center where he was caught while waiting for him.
Other boda riders became inquisitive towards a stranger who they concluded was a thief. They arrested and referred him to Police to whom he confessed before leading the Afandes to Sadick Sibaminya who was caught red handed, arrested and subsequently arraigned at the Standards & Utilities Court based at Makindye. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
