The Electricity Regulatory Authority has strongly condemned electricity theft after a TikTok user posted a video encouraging members of the public to illegally reconnect power supply even when Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) disconnects unauthorized connections.
Speaking at a police press briefing, Ibrahim Kasita, Communications Officer at the Electricity Regulatory Authority, addressed the viral TikTok video posted on June 12, 2025, by Kasule Brighton, a 27-year-old businessman from Busega.
In the video, Brighton openly bragged about illicitly reconnecting electricity using previously disconnected supply wires, known locally as “solidu,” and encouraged others to engage in similar illegal activities whenever disconnections occur.
“This is electricity theft, an incitement of electricity theft. Electricity theft is a crime, there is no justification of electricity theft,” said Ibrahim Kasita, Communications Officer at the Electricity Regulatory Authority. “When someone steals electricity, treat it as if someone is stealing your money from your pocket, because at the end of the day, you as a consumer, you will have to pay.”
The authorities received information about Brighton’s activities on July 16, 2025, prompting the press briefing to address what officials describe as dangerous tampering with public infrastructure.
Kasita warned that the penalties for electricity-related offenses are severe under Uganda’s Electricity Act. Unauthorized reconnection and tampering with meters and supply wires carries penalties of up to 12 years imprisonment under Section 88 of the Act.
“Theft of electricity via illegal connection is an offense under section 90 of the electricity act liable to 10 years imprisonment,” Kasita explained. “In addition, the customer will have to pay up to 20 times the cost of the stolen, estimated cost of the stolen electricity.”
The communications officer emphasized that convicted offenders face both imprisonment and substantial financial penalties. “If you have been convicted you are liable not only to 12 years imprisonment but you could also may decide you to pay 20 times of the cost of what you have tampered with.”
Working on electrical installations without proper permits from the Electricity Regulatory Authority’s installations permit committee also carries criminal penalties of up to two years imprisonment.
Beyond the legal implications, authorities highlighted serious safety risks associated with illegal electrical connections. Kasita warned that unauthorized tampering “exposes citizens to electrocution hazards, compromises reliability service delivery, and results in substantial losses across the electricity sector value chain.”
“That infrastructure is your infrastructure, is the infrastructure of the public. No one owns that infrastructure apart from you, the public,” he said. “Therefore any individual tampering with that infrastructure is tampering with our lives.”
The regulatory officer stressed that the costs of electricity theft are ultimately borne by legitimate consumers, making it a crime that affects the entire public.
“The losses are paid for by the customer, by you, the consumers,” Kasita concluded, urging all Ugandans to condemn such illegal activities and avoid tampering with electricity infrastructure.
The joint statement from Uganda Police Force, ERA, and UEDCL represents a coordinated effort to combat electricity theft and protect the country’s power infrastructure from unauthorized interference.
