Three Teenagers Arrested Over Theft of School Lightning Protection System in Kabale

Three teenagers have been arrested in Kabale Municipality after they allegedly stole a lightning protection system from Kabale Primary School, a facility installed to shield pupils and staff in one of Uganda’s most lightning-prone regions. 

The suspects are being held at Kabale Central Police Station following the break-in at Kabale Primary School, commonly known as DEMO School, in Central Division. 

Police have withheld their identities because investigations are still ongoing. According to the school’s head teacher, Nelson Byomuhangi, the suspects broke into the school at about 2:00 a.m. on Friday, July 10. They allegedly locked one of the night watchmen inside the guardroom at the main gate before dismantling the lens of a CCTV camera in an apparent attempt to avoid being identified. 

However, the trapped watchman managed to alert his colleagues, who confronted the suspects as they were removing the lightning arrester system from one of the classroom blocks. The suspects fled before they could be arrested, abandoning clothes and shoes near the school and the Diocese of Kigezi Mothers’ Union Building. 

School administrators later reviewed CCTV footage with police, leading to the identification of one suspect. He was arrested after reportedly returning to the area on Saturday morning to retrieve the belongings he had left behind during the escape. 

Police say the suspect subsequently led investigators to a bush and eucalyptus plantation in Nyabikoni, Central Division, where two other suspects were allegedly hiding. The pair were arrested, completing the operation. 

Kigezi Regional Police spokesperson Nelson Tumushime said investigations are ongoing. He added that the suspects admitted they had intended to sell the stolen lightning arrestor equipment as scrap metal for 15,000 Shillings per kilogram. 

The attempted theft has alarmed school authorities because lightning arresters are considered critical safety installations in the Kigezi sub-region, where schools have repeatedly suffered deadly lightning strikes. In March this year, three pupils at Katojo Primary School in Kabale District were injured after being struck by lightning. 

In May, three pupils of Bweera Primary School in Maziba Sub-county were killed in a similar incident. Earlier, in April 2018, Aggrey Ainembabazi, a pupil at Nyakeina Parents Primary School, was killed by lightning while seven other pupils survived with injuries. 

The 2021 National Risk and Vulnerability Atlas identifies the Kigezi sub-region as one of Uganda’s most lightning-prone areas, underscoring the importance of maintaining functional lightning protection systems in schools. The incident also adds to a growing pattern of thefts targeting schools in Kabale Municipality. In July 2024, thieves stole 19 computers worth 256 million Shillings from Hornby High School Junior in the Northern Division. 

The computers were part of a modern laboratory valued at 150 million Shillings, donated by MTN Uganda in partnership with Sense International Uganda in November 2023. Police later arrested three suspects, including two school employees, after investigations indicated the burglars had received inside assistance.