Jinja – The Operations team of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) manning Jinja area has unearthed water theft activities at Riverside Lodge and Hotel in Njeru Municipality for the second time.
Water theft and illegal connection remain a barrier in NWSC’s effort to provide clean and safe water to every Ugandan.
The account, under customer REF; 4125947 at Bujowaali in Njeru Municipality in the name of a one, Ronald Mugabi who has been charged with illegal water reconnection and interference with Nwsc Works is used at Riverside Hotel.
Led by the NWSC senior security officer James Bwire and detectives from Jinja Central Police Station, the team raided Riverside hotel where they uncovered illegal connections made to Hotel rooms, kitchen among other places.
According to Mr. Opio Godfrey, a technical supervisor at NWSC Jinja area’s Illegal Water Department (mandated to fight water theft), revealed that Riverside was at first found with illegal connections in March 2019; fined UGX6.5M and the matter was forwarded to Police for further investigations.
‘’Today, we found a customer had reconnected themselves with straight connector and it was filling the tank. When we checked the premise, we discovered the water was running in all the rooms including the toilets and swimming pools,‘’ said agitated Opio.
Opio added that just like other similar cases, the person found at the hotel before disappearing, gave them a contact of the alleged owner but the latTer declined the pick calls.
‘’Currently, people who steel water have resorted to playing with the meters where they put some eccentric devices but we are not sleeping’’, Opio revealed.
Illegal water department police say Mugabi will be charged with altering, tampering and bypassing utility meters.
Mugabi is equally accused of re-piping the water line to his hotel so the meter would not record his water usage despite being disconnected earlier over water theft related cases.
Dr. Charles Okuonzi, NWSC Manager -Jinja – disclosed that the biggest culprits of water theft are city tycoons especially hotel owners and institutional managers thus affecting the corporation’s operations.