Page 10 - AfrElec Week 08 2022
P. 10
AfrElec POLICY AfrElec
Ugandan seeks scrap metal
sales ban, citing rampant
electricity infrastructure theft
UGANDA UGANDA’S Ministry of Energy and Mineral the scrap metal trade.
Development is calling for a total ban on the Opolot said an inter-ministerial committee
metal scrap business due to the rampant theft of has been formed that is concurrently develop-
electricity infrastructure, The Observer reports. ing other strategies to reduce the theft, including
More than 200 pylons and other key equip- establishing utility courts so that suspected van-
ment have been stripped of metal compo- dals can be tried quickly once arrested, accord-
nents over the past five years, complicating the ing to The Observer.
National Development Plan III target to increase Often thieves first disable or steal CCTV
electricity coverage to 60% of the population by cameras installed on pylons before making
2027. off with the metal parts. The theft is often car-
Most of the stolen metal ends up with scrap ried out by well-organized and armed groups,
dealers, according to Sidronius Okasai Opolot, according to a ministry official advocating for
the State Minister of Energy and Mineral Devel- the Electricity Amendment Bill, which would
opment, who is currently in talks with his coun- impose fines of up to UGX1bn ($285,000) and
terpart at the Ministry of Trade Industry and jail terms of no less than 10 years on thieves tar-
Cooperatives towards initiating a total ban on geting infrastructure.
Tanzania state power utility,
Geita Gold Mine sign power
purchase deal
TANZANIA GEITA Gold Mine Limited (GGML) has signed building a 33kv transmission line while GGML
a power purchasing agreement with the Tanza- is constructing a power station, both of which
nia state power company TANESCO in a bid to should be completed by the end of 2022.
reduce the cost of running fuel generators. GGML, one of AngloGold Ashanti’s flagship
Simon Shayo, GGM vice president for Tan- mines, in the Lake Victoria goldfields in the
zania and Ghana, said the company has been Geita region, has been in operation as a large-
spending at least $3mn (Sh6.9bn) per month scale mine since 2000, but mining has taken
to produce its own electricity, and the deal with place in the area since the 1930s.
TANESCO should result in significant savings, The Geita gold deposit is currently mined
The Citizen reports. as a multiple open-pit and underground
As part of the agreement, TANESCO is operation.
P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 08 24•February•2022
