Police in Zomba have arrested 32-year-old Arnold Katunga in the old Capital City for allegedly tampering with ESCOM infrastructure on Sunday, June 2 2024.
Zomba Police spokesperson,Patricia Sipiliano, confirmed the incident, saying the suspected will be charged with the offence of tampering with ESCOM property contrary to sections of the Electricity Act.
The offence can attract a fine and even a custodial sentence of up to 10 years.
It is said that two weeks ago, ESCOM officers Lusekelo Mwenefumbo, Jackson Master, Andy Chinyamu, Wellington Kamwana and Emmanuel Chikuta, who are working under Token Identifier Project in the district, were tipped that an unidentified man impersonates an ESCOM employee and rectifies electricity faults around Njonjo area while demanding money in the process from customers.
Mwenefumbo said they had agreed with the whistle- blower to alert them whenever the suspect tampered with ESCOM infrastructure again.
“Today, we were tipped again that the suspect was in the area resolving faults and we rushed to the area. We found the impersonator on the pole allegedly resolving a fault using a wooden ladder, a string as a belt, a pair of pliers, screw driver and without ESCOM protective gear,” he said.
“Having seen this, we quickly concluded that he is not one of ESCOM’s employees.”
Mwenefumbo said having quizzed the suspect, he failed to give convincing reasons as to why he was tampering with the pole.
“This prompted us to take the suspect to Zomba Police Station where he has since been detained,” he said.
Katunga hails from Ntanja Village, Traditional Authority Dambe in Mwanza District.
ESCOM Chief Public Relations Officer, Kitty Chingota, has since appealed to the public to report any person suspected of tampering or vandalising electricity assets to the police or ESCOM office.
Katunda_In Police custody
From left to right_Emmanuel Chikuta, Andy Chinyamu, Lusekelo Mwenefumbo, Jackson Master and Wellington Kamwana