By Hopeson Kafumbwa—ESCOM Public Relations Intern
Balaka Senior Grade Magistrate’s Court has jailed Osman Wisiki to three years imprisonment with hard labour for vandalizing and stealing ESCOM aluminium conductors worth K3 million in the district.
Balaka Police Public Relations Officer, Inspector Gladson M’bumpha, confirmed that the court passed the judgment on Osman on February 13, 2025, for the offences involving the 600-metre aluminium.
M’bumpha said community policing members caught Osman after stopping him on his bicycle while carrying a bag of the conductors on his way to sell them.
“After being interrogated, he guided the police to Nandumbo where he committed the case and we found out that electrical poles were destroyed and aluminum conductors were stolen,” M’bumpha said.
The police publicist said Osman claimed he was just hired by two colleagues to deliver the bag to Nandumo and that he only knew that the bag contained conductors after being stopped.
The vandalism of the conductors affected patients at Nandumbo Health Centre and small-scale businesses.
Being found in possession of stolen ESCOM equipment and vandalising the same are offences attracting a maximum 30-year jail term with no option of paying a fine. This is according to the Electricity Amendment Act of 2024.
CONFIRMED THE CASE—Inspector M’bumpha