By Mulengera Reporters
Since the beginning of March this year, state prosecutors from UCC have been prosecuting suspects in a telecom equipment vandalism case (KBE/CRB043/2026) at the Makindye-based Standards & Utilities Court.
The case, which initially had become complicated because of absence of principal suspect Nakibinge John Baptist, a businessman dealing in scrap, recently gathered pace and prosecutors started glimpsing unforeseen breakthrough in the whole thing.
The suspects on 16th December 2025 allegedly participated in the offence of removing and tampering with telecommunications installations, which is an offence under Section 84 of Uganda Communications Act, Cap 103.
On that day, Taremwa Joseph, Kansiime Gilbert, Ssenkoni Reagan and Nakibinge John Baptist alias Seeka & others still at large were caught in the act of removing and tampering with telecommunication mast belonging to American Tower Corporation (ATC).
The alleged offences happened at Kimbugu village LC1/parish in Kikuube district where ATC’s Kimbugu Tower is situated to boost the signal’s reception network for telephone users in that part of Bunyoro sub region.
For the state prosecutors from UCC, the unexpected breakthrough came recently when Reagan Ssenkoni (Accused Person no. 3 on the charge sheet) pleaded guilty and offered to give evidence against the other co-accused.
The trial Magistrate Adong Molly Alice convicted and sentenced him to a custodial sentence in Luzira from where he was brought last week to come to the Makindye Court to give evidence against his alleged accomplices namely Nakibinge John Baptist and Joseph Taremwa.
A wealthy businessman, Nakibinge JB has since hired Joseph Angole, who is also the defense lawyer for Chris Obore, to defend him in the UCC-prosecuted trial. Being his former employee, Reagan Ssenkoni elaborated to court how Nakibinge JB was for many years their boss who thrived on trading in stolen scrap especially copper wires that would be obtained from vandalized telecom mast sites in the Kikuube area.
He narrated to court how he handled the cash to facilitate boys going for such vandalism missions besides being the one managing the stores to which such stolen scrap would be delivered on motorcycles and sometimes cars.
He explained how on the fateful day, Nakibinge JB directed him to release Shs80,000 to facilitate Joseph Taremwa, Kansiime Gilbert, Collins, Hakim and other boys to go for the vandalism mission which ended up going bad. He asserted that Nakibinge JB is the man who does the scouting to determine which site has to be targeted for which mission.
Ssenkoni narrated how at first the boss deceived him as to what exactly had caused the arrest of the boys to whom Shs80,000 facilitation had been paid. The boss allegedly lied to him that they got involved into a road accident by knocking someone resulting into their arrest by LC officials and community members at Kimbugu village. It only turned out later that it was a vandalism robbery mission gone bad.
Ssenkoni, who told Court how he had facilitated the same boys for more than 10 other such missions before at the instigation of his same boss, narrated how the same Nakibinge JB advised him to go into hiding after the others had got arrested and ordered him abandon the business of working for him altogether.
He told the story all the way to the day he was intercepted by detectives (who had been tracking his phone) moving in a Drone and a pick-up double cabin. He was apprehended at Hoima City’s Red Cross round about by plain clothed men who interrogated him about JB’s whereabout as they delivered him to former Wembley headquarters in Kireka from where he was processed to appear before the Makindye Court.
On the day he was apprehended, Ssenkoni told court that he was busy selling soccer jerseys which had become his new business after JB became incommunicado and told him to go into hiding to disguise himself and avoid being arrested. He also corroborated about another balance of Shs240,000 which JB was supposed to pay upon receiving the copper.
His evidence had the effect of painting JB Nakibinge as the overall boss for all of them and the coordinator of the vandalism mission who thrives on the super normal profits he gets from the sell of such stolen scrap. He also illustrated how JB Nakibinge is the marketer and overall promoter of the stolen copper wires and other items.
Nakibinge JB’s lawyer Joseph Angole asked for an opportunity to cross-examine Ssenkoni, which the trial Magistrate granted on the subsequent court session slated for the afternoon of Friday 7th August at Makindye.
Just like his alleged former boss Nakibinge, Joseph Taremwa (who is out on bail) denied all the things Ssenkoni said about him and notified Court of readiness to hire a lawyer to come and do cross-examination of the witness on his behalf.
Joseph Angole, for whom it can’t be hard since these are co-accused facing similar charges relating to the same transaction, had offered to help represent Taremwa free of charge (as he does the same for JB) but his mum, who travelled all the way from Hoima, declined saying they have the money to get their own lawyer (from counsel Mohammed Mbabazi’s law firm). (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
