By Mulengera ReportersDuring a sentencing session on Tuesday at Makindye Magistrates Court, the 19-year-old Ronnie Muyomba voluntarily reflected on the events of the night of Monday 11th August this very year and told His Worship Geoffrey Akena he was sorry for the theft and vandalism acts he was caught committing at 10pm.The young man, who all along had been a technician working with telecom support services provider firm IC3 company, told the Magistrate he regrets what he did and is looking forward to an opportunity to be rehabilitated into a more useful citizen. “I’m so remorseful, I will never do such acts again for the rest of my life.”Flanked by prisons warders who ushered him into the Magistrate’s chambers, Muyomba was convicted and sentenced on his own guilty plea and thereby saving court’s time and that of prosecution that would have struggled and expended money bringing witnesses to give evidence to prove his guilt.“Your Worship I’m a young man of just 19 years and having been under detention since that time [11th August], I have reflected and I’m here to apologize for my actions and ask for forgiveness,” Muyomba said in Luganda when called upon by the Magistrate to say something in mitigation moments after prosecution had made their case and before reading out his sentence. He had pleaded guilty earlier on, prompting the Magistrate to convict him on his own plea. On Tuesday, he had been returned to Court for sentencing.WHAT DID HE DO?According to information prosecution lawyers from UCC submitted in Court, Muyomba was at 10pm on 11th August caught red handed by a group of security operatives from ATC and contracted private security firms like SWAT, while packing into a sack 4 pieces of very expensive RRU cables which he had just stolen from the ATC telecom mast or tower site located on Gombe hill in the Matuga neighborhood, off the Kampala-Gulu highway.Besides these stolen items, in Muyomba’s possession was a knife, keys and a pair of pliers. Upon being apprehended, he confessed to having vandalized the ATC mast site and stolen the telecom cables. He was taken to Matuga Police Station from where he was relocated to Jinja Road Police Station where all telecom vandalism-related cases (triable at the Makindye-based Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court) are processed these days.It’s at this same court where all offences relating to telecom infrastructure vandalism are tried from besides those relating to utility services like water and electricity. Even wildlife-related offences are all tried in that same court. UNBS, NEMA, NWSC, UWA etc all these days have their own state prosecutors who prosecute the relevant offenders from this same Makindye Court that is headed by Chief Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu.In all the places he was detained in, Muyomba gratefully maintained his plea of guilty and never changed it at any one moment. This explains why the Magistrate was able to conclude his trial in such a short time (arrested on 11th August and sentenced on Tuesday 2nd September). Even in his charge and caution statement, made before a Magistrate, the young man from Kamuli maintained his plea of guilty.He was sentenced on two counts namely damaging & removing telecom installations contrary to section 84(1) of Uganda Communications Act Cap 103 and theft (of telecom equipment) contrary to sections 237(1) and 244 of the Penal Code Act Cap 128.While appreciating the convict for maintaining his guilt plea and thereby saving court’s time, prosecutors from UCC, while submitting on the aggravating factors during the sentencing session on Tuesday, implored the Magistrate to hand down the maximum sentence because during investigations the same Muyomba had admitted to having engaged in similar vandalism and theft acts before, equally targeting the same ATC’s telecom infrastructure on other telecom tower mast sites.“Your Honour, this clearly shows that what he was caught doing at the Gombe site wasn’t a one-off act. He had been regularly been involved in committing the same offence of vandalising masts and theft. And because this offence of vandalism is very rampant these days, and is imposing a cost to all stakeholders including ATC, the telecom companies and people who consume telecom services, we ask Court to consider giving him the maximum sentence,” submitted the state prosecutor from UCC. “The penalty this Court gives to the convict has to serve the deterrence purpose and as an example to others who might have been harboring thoughts to commit the same offense of vandalism.”The prosecutor further explained that besides ATC, which telecom companies like MTN, Airtel and Lyca Mobile contract to supply the technology services to support reception of their services by the paying public, the end users themselves greatly suffer as a result of vandalism in terms of dropped calls which result from masts being vandalized, inability to make mobile money transactions, inability to use their bank ATMS and inability to access/use internet etc.“We are praying for a custodial sentence so that the convict can serve as an example to other potential vandals,” the state prosecutor submitted as the 19-year-old Muyomba, who was self-represented because of inability to afford defence lawyer, remorsefully looked on.Muyomba, submitting in mitigation, asked for forgiveness while making reference to the physical wounds he claimed to have contracted during his arrest last month. “Your Honour I was beaten and I walk with difficulty, which is why I request for a lenient sentence if not total a pardon. I promise to live the rest of my life very productively and I will never engage in such actions again.” Unable to understand or speak English, Muyomba spoke through a translator.In his sentence, the Magistrate sentenced Muyomba to serving four years for each of the two counts. He was sentenced to serve four years for each, but concurrently. This simply means that the young man will have to be in prison up to mid-2028, earliest. The Magistrate appreciated the fact that he is a first-time offender, in the records of court, but still gave him four years because he did reveal at his own volition during investigations that this wasn’t the first time he was committing such offences.“I’m giving you a severe sentence because as an employee of IC3, which is a company involved in the telecom business, you did everything well knowing the extent to which vandalism costs this country and all the different players. Court is aware of the importance telecom services play in accelerating the economic development of a growing economy like ours. And vandalism is negatively impacting the delivery of services offered by hospitals, schools and financial institutions [which rely on internet connectivity to serve vast number of customers],” the Magistrate proclaimed.The Magistrate added that he was convinced that serving four years of custodial sentence will be enough time for Ronnie Muyomba to meaningfully reflect on his actions and reform so that by the time he comes out of prison (at the age of 24 years), he will be able to resume normal life and significantly contribute to the development and wellbeing of his country. He also explained to Muyomba about his right to appeal in case he wasn’t satisfied with the sentence.The Ugandan state continues to be decisive while prosecuting offences related to vandalism and theft of telecom infrastructure because each time such acts happen on a site, telecom services consumers in that service area won’t be able to use their bank ATM cards, make phone calls, utilize their WhatsApp or even communicate via emailing. Those leveraging technology to access banking services by sending or receiving money won’t be able to do so until the vandalized section of the network is restored-and that restoration comes at a huge cost to both ATC and the telecom company.People and community members in need of emergency services (say calling police fire brigade in case of a fire or even calling for ambulance services in case of an accident or a health emergency) won’t be able to make that life-saving call because the entire telecom network gets off and no one in that service area can make or receive any telecom-enabled communication.The vandalism problem recently got onto the nerves of the President who directed the CDF to put in place a taskforce to combat it and treat it like any other terrorism act. Gen Museveni likened vandalism to economic terrorism, which he vowed to fight because it has been diminishing Uganda’s attractiveness as an investment destination for foreign investors like ATC.On its part, the Judiciary arm of government years ago prioritized the need to combat vandalism by establishing a unique court to exclusively try such offences. That sort of specialization has enabled judicial officers like Gladys Kamasanyu to develop and acquire unique expertise that is highly specialized and responsive to such offences. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).