Four held over theft of construction materials in Rukiga

By Anthony Kushaba

apearlnews.com

Police in Rukiga have eight suspects in custody alleged to have broken into stores and stolen construction materials, including cement and iron bars worth millions of shillings, which are supposed to be used for a transmission power line from Ntungamo district through Rukiga to Karukara in Rubanda district.

The suspects in custody are:Moreen Nuwamanya, a supervisor and resident of Mutambuka cell Kabale municipality; Beatrice Tushemerirwe, a resident of Muhanga township, in whose home store the cement was stolen and some exhibits recovered; Ramadan Nuwamanya, a resident of Muhanga township and the illegal buyer; and Amanyire Apollo, a teacher and resident of Muhanga township, also the illegal buyer; plus four casual laborers.

CGTSCC is a Chinese company based in Uganda and is currently constructing a transmission power line from Ntungamo to Karukara in Rubanda using pylon towers (material poles), and they have so far extended the line up to Bukinda in Rukiga district, where they have also established a base and some materials have already been brought to start the construction.

Kigezi regional police spokesperson Elly Maate says that it is alleged that on May 1, 2023, at around 20:00 hours, 146 bags of Hiima cement power plus and 80 iron bars, steel tubes, and TMT 500 for casting the foundation were stolen from the site, as alleged by one Alex Nuwamanya, a civil engineer for the entire company.

He claims that this was realized on January 6, 2023, when the subcontractor, Kazibwe Ibrah, found no materials in the store as he wanted to resume work or construction after the Xmas break.

That’s when a report was entered at the Muhanga police station, and investigations commenced.

It was also realized that the workers who were left to guard the site had abandoned it and moved away to unknown places, and they were not picking up their phones.

The operation was immediately mounted by the district team, and that’s when 13 bags of cement were recovered and exhibited accordingly.

These operations will continue to ensure that all those involved are brought to book as a deterrent measure to others who intend to do the same by sabotaging government programs, which we