By Ben MusanjeA repeat offender convicted of vandalizing an American Tower Corporation (ATC) telecommunications site in Wakiso District has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for damaging telecom installations and another 10 years for theft, after a court found that he had returned to the same criminal activity only months after completing a previous prison term.Chief Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu of the Chief Magistrate’s Court of Standards, Utilities and Wildlife at Makindye sentenced Quarish Ssegirinya, also known as Yasin Lubowa, on August 11, 2026, after convicting him on three counts arising from the May 2025 vandalism of an ATC site at Kigogwa, Matugga-Kasangati Sub-county, Wakiso District.The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, meaning the effective custodial term is 10 years, subject to the deduction of the period he had already spent on remand.Kamasanyu convicted Ssegirinya of damaging and removing telecommunications installations contrary to Section 84(1)(b) of the Uganda Communications Act, criminal trespass under Section 282(a) of the Penal Code Act, and theft under Sections 237(1) and 244 of the Penal Code Act.He was sentenced to 10 years for damaging telecommunications installations, one year for criminal trespass and 10 years for theft.The court ordered that the period Ssegirinya had spent on remand—from May 19, 2025, to August 11, 2026—be deducted from each of the sentences.The case arose from an incident at Namakonkome Site Code 701754 on the night of May 12, 2025. The prosecution alleged that Ssegirinya and other people who have not been arrested broke into the ATC telecommunications site and vandalised a 20KVA Jubaili Bros generator.The prosecution said generator components valued at Shs8.54 million were stolen. Among the missing items were a water pump, fan pulley, radiator fan, injector pump, injector fuel lines, fuel filter holder, lift pump, radiator and radiator cup, oil dipstick, DC charging alternator, engine hose pipes, temperature sensor, air cleaner holder and hose pipe, and a fuel solenoid.The prosecution was led by Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) licensed prosecutors Dr. Abdul Salaam Waiswa, Nazir Kagawa and Kevin Bakulumpagi.Ssegirinya represented himself throughout the proceedings.According to the judgment, the prosecution called five witnesses, including security officials, an ATC service delivery supervisor and police officers who investigated and documented the crime scene.The court heard that security personnel conducting a routine patrol of ATC sites along Bombo Road arrived at the Namakonkome site at about 12:30am.They found that palisades on the metallic gate had been removed, creating a hole through which entry had been gained.Inside the compound, the security team found a white sack containing generator parts. They also discovered that the generator belt had been opened and was lying down.The patrol team then heard a tool fall and suspected that someone was hiding inside the generator enclosure.According to the evidence accepted by the court, a muscular man emerged from the generator canopy and attempted to flee.One of the security officers cocked a gun and ordered him to stop. The man stopped and pleaded with the officers not to shoot him.During the attempted escape, the man hit his head against a metal palisade and sustained a cut. He was later identified as Ssegirinya.The security officers arrested him and took him, together with the sack and recovered generator parts, to Matugga Police Station.Police officers who visited the site later that day found the damaged gate, a broken palisade, blood stains and a surgical mask. They also found that the generator had been vandalised and several parts removed.The court was shown photographs taken at the scene and the recovered generator components.The evidence also included a motorcycle, registration number UEP 429K, which was recovered near the crime scene and later kept at Buwambo Police Station.Ssegirinya denied participating in the vandalism and theft. During his defence, he claimed that he had previously been involved in the illegal trade of generator parts but alleged that technicians connected to the telecommunications industry had supplied him with stolen components.He further claimed that one of the prosecution witnesses, together with other people, had called him and taken him to the area before assaulting and framing him.However, the court rejected that account.Kamasanyu noted that Ssegirinya alleged that a particular person had called him on May 11, 2025, and asked him to accompany a group to Bombo. He even supplied telephone numbers that he said were involved in the alleged call.But when call-data records were presented to him during cross-examination, he acknowledged that there was no call matching the account he had given.The magistrate also noted that Ssegirinya had cross-examined prosecution witnesses but did not question them about the alleged journey with him to the crime scene.Kamasanyu concluded that the accused had deliberately lied in an attempt to create a false explanation for his presence at the scene.The court therefore relied heavily on circumstantial evidence.Although nobody testified that they had personally seen Ssegirinya removing generator parts, the court found that the circumstances surrounding his arrest pointed irresistibly to his participation.He was found inside the telecommunications site shortly after midnight, after the gate had been broken and the generator vandalised. Some of the generator parts were found in a sack at the scene.The magistrate said Ssegirinya’s presence at the site, his attempt to escape, his injuries and the weaknesses in his defence collectively established his participation beyond reasonable doubt.The court also found that the prosecution had established the elements of criminal trespass because Ssegirinya had entered property belonging to ATC without permission and with the intention of committing an offence.On the theft count, the court found that the generator components had been fraudulently taken with the intention of permanently depriving ATC of them.The court further noted that Ssegirinya had not raised an honest claim of right over the stolen property.The conviction was particularly significant because the court found that Ssegirinya was not a first-time offender.Evidence before the court showed that he had previously been convicted in Criminal Case No. KLA-00-CR-1477-2021, when the court was still operating at Buganda Road.In that earlier case, he was prosecuted under the name Lubowa Yasin, also known as Brian or Bosco.He had been convicted on seven counts of tampering with telecommunications installations and seven counts of theft involving generator parts.The offences in the previous case were committed between January and August 2021 at several ATC sites in Wakiso and Kampala, including Namasuba, Bbira-Kireka, Bbira, Bbira Bulaga, Kasenge Budo, Kirinyabigo and Nanasana.He was convicted on October 7, 2022, and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment on each count, with the sentences running concurrently.He was released from prison in November 2024.Less than six months later, he was again accused of vandalising an ATC site.The court considered that history a major aggravating factor.Kamasanyu said the fact that Ssegirinya had committed similar offences shortly after his release demonstrated that he had not learned from his previous punishment.The court also took issue with his use of different names and what it described as his conduct and demeanour during the proceedings.The magistrate found him unremorseful and said his conduct indicated a hardened offender who was unwilling to learn from previous mistakes.The court relied on paragraph 47 of the Constitution (Sentencing Guidelines for Courts of Judicature) (Practice) Directions, 2013, which identifies factors that can aggravate sentences for theft and theft-related offences.Those factors include the seriousness of the loss, the amount or quantity of property stolen, the prevalence of the offence, lack of remorse, habitual offending and significant premeditation.Kamasanyu found that all those aggravating factors were present in the case.The magistrate also emphasised the wider consequences of telecommunications vandalism, describing it as more than an ordinary property offence.According to the court, telecommunications infrastructure is critical to modern life and disruptions can affect education, health services, financial transactions and emergency response.Vandalism also imposes costs on operators and can result in penalties from telecommunications companies whose networks depend on the damaged infrastructure.The court heard that ATC lost generator components worth Shs8.54 million and incurred approximately Shs36 million in penalties after telecom operators fined the company for network downtime while the generator was out of service.“The offenses have a significant impact on society and users of communication services in Uganda,” the court observed, adding that telecommunications towers are critical national infrastructure that must be protected.Kamasanyu characterised vandalism of telecommunications infrastructure as an act of economic sabotage and a national security threat, saying deterrent sentences were necessary to curb the growing problem.The prosecution had urged the court to impose a lengthy custodial sentence without an option of a fine.Dr Waiswa argued that vandalism of telecom infrastructure was rampant and affected not only ATC but also communities relying on the affected towers for communication.He further submitted that ATC had not experienced similar thefts from its generators since Ssegirinya’s arrest, while the quality of communication services had improved.The prosecution also asked the court to order compensation for ATC for the loss caused by the theft.In mitigation, Ssegirinya acknowledged that he was a repeat offender. He told the court that he had learned his lesson in prison but had been lured by other people into committing the latest offences.He also asked the court to consider his time on remand as sufficient punishment.Ssegirinya said he was a father of three children and also cared for other people. He told the court that his imprisonment had resulted in his children dropping out of school.He asked for forgiveness and promised that the case would be his last appearance before the court.The magistrate, however, concluded that the need to protect the public, deter similar offences and incapacitate the offender outweighed the mitigation advanced by the convict.Kamasanyu said the sentence should also serve as a warning to Ssegirinya’s alleged accomplices, who remain at large, and to other people engaged in the vandalism of telecommunications infrastructure.In addition to the prison sentences, the court made orders concerning property recovered during the investigation.The motorcycle, a Bajaj Boxer bearing registration number UEP 429K, which the court found had been used in the commission of the offences and was being held at Buwambo Police Station, was ordered to be given to ATC as compensation for the loss suffered by the company.The generator parts that had been tendered in evidence were also ordered to be handed back to ATC, their owner.The court explained Ssegirinya’s right to appeal against the decision.The judgment was delivered on August 3, 2026, while the sentence and consequential orders were issued on August 11, 2026.The case underscores the growing judicial concern over the vandalism of telecommunications infrastructure in Uganda, with the Makindye court making clear that repeat offenders who target telecom installations can face lengthy custodial sentences where the evidence establishes their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.For Ssegirinya, the concurrent sentences mean that, after accounting for his remand period, he will remain in custody for the balance of the 10-year effective sentence unless the conviction or sentence is successfully altered on appeal. 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