By Mulengera Reporters
Cowed by the impeccable evidence UCC prosecutors brought to Court through several witnesses, including fellow security guard Okello Peter, accused person Lawrence Letti (35) admitted before Her Worship Gladys Kamasanyu that he indeed had participated in the 23rd March 2023 tampering with the ATC telecom installation at Bulaga Hill Wakiso district from where 16 lithium batteries were stolen.
On that day (afternoon), Letti along with others travelled in Nissan Terrano UAQ 740U (grey in colour) to the Bulaga site in Wakiso district outside Buloba Town where they duped resident security guard Okello Peter and led him away, which provided cover for Letti’s co-accused (telecom engineers Amdan Mukwaya and Charles Kasirye) to dismantle and carry away the 16 batteries.
On 17th July 2023, acting on intelligence provided by the man to whom the lithium batteries were sold, police operatives attached to UCC were able to arrest Letti and others. On 2nd October 2023, Letti deposited Shs1m in Court and was released on bail but then disappeared, went into hiding and absconded from attending subsequent Court sessions for his trial.
This prompted the trial Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu of the Makindye-based Utilities Court to cancel his bail in June 2024. That’s how he was once again remanded effective from 11th October 2024.
He had been on trial since his re-arrest and remand but in November 2025, he realized he was fighting a losing battle after reflecting on the overwhelming evidence prosecution witnesses had given.
He was an unrepresented litigant, without a lawyer. Along with Kasirye and Mukwaya, Letti had been charged with three counts namely removing/tampering with telecom installation (which is an offence under Section 84(1)(b) of Uganda Communications Act), theft and criminal trespass both of which are offences created under the Penal Code Act.
Last November (2025), Letti indicated he wanted to plead guilty and that’s how he voluntarily signed up to a plea-bargaining agreement between him and the state prosecutors from UCC.
For the offence of tampering, the law prescribes a maximum custodial/jail sentence of 5 years, 10 years for the offence of theft and 1 year for the offence of criminal trespass.
Because Letti had offered to help give evidence implicating his co-accused (the two engineers who got defence lawyer Malik Mboowa for themselves & left him in the cold), the state prosecutors from UCC agreed under the plea-bargaining deal to have him sentenced to a custodial sentence of 15 months for tampering, 15 months for theft and 6 months for the offence of criminal trespass.
During the Tuesday 13th January Court session, UCC Legal Directorate head Dr. Abdul Salaam Waiswa read the contents of the plea-bargaining agreement/report to the Court. And gratefully, Her Worship Gladys Kamasanyu agreed with everything.
Letti was accordingly convicted on his own plea of guilty and even when she had the discretion to disregard what the two parties had agreed in their plea-bargaining agreement, Kamasanyu didn’t alter the proposed sentence.
She agreed and sentenced a clearly remorseful Letti to serving a custodial sentence of 15 months.
This was agreed to be served concurrently and, because he had already been on remand for 15 months and two days (counting from 11th October 2024), Letti was immediately discharged and was able to walk out of prison the next day upon being released by the Uganda Prisons Services.
The trial Magistrate decreed that the 15 months and two days the security guard from West Nile had already served on remand be deducted from the 15 months jail period he had been sentenced to and he serves the remaining period. But gratefully, there was no custodial period left to be served and that’s how a repentant Letti was able to immediately walk to freedom hours after being sentenced.
Helpfully, his decision to cooperate with prosecution and testify against his co-accused (the two telecom engineers Amdan Mukwaya and Charles Kasirye) turned out to be a game changer for the entire trial as it helped to bring the entire Bulaga case to a quick resolution and ultimate end.
The two accused telecom engineers realized that it was going to be hard to rebut Letti’s evidence (corroborating what other witnesses had already told Court earlier on) and they too cracked and pleaded guilty. They were subsequently convicted and sentenced on their own plea.
This was a triumphant moment for the prosecutors from UCC as a released Letti promised to sensitize fellow security guards never to engage in such fraudulent activities against ATC telecom installations.
The American Towers Corporation (ATC) has more than 5,000 such Bulaga-like telecom tower mast sites across Uganda. And it’s an investment worth trillions of shillings.
As he prepared to bid farewell to his Luzira jail mates, Letti also signaled readiness to give media interviews aimed at sharing his experience and sensitizing fellow young Ugandans and security guards on the dangers of engaging in such fraudulent activities. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
