Chinese national arrested for aiding electrocution of employee

By Joseph Omollo        

Police in Tororo has arrested one of the directors of China Railway 18th Bureau Corporation Limited, a company working on Busia-Tororo Road, over the aiding electrocution of one of their employees.

The suspect has been identified as Yuon U.

The deputy regional police commander for Bukedi South, Senior Superintendent of Police Fredrick Ahimbizibwe, confirmed that Mr. Yuu and the company’s human resources officer, Martine Looki, were arrested after harboring the key suspect who aided the electrocution of one Paul Odoi, who was working as a mansion in the company.

He said the arrest was effected on the orders of the district LC5 chairperson, John Okeya, who wanted the directors to produce the key suspect, Han Lee Jun, a crane operator who went hiding.

It’s reported that the incident happened on Friday at around 2 p.m. when Han forced the deceased to hold a pulley of a crane that was already intact with electric wire at the company construction camp site.

He said the in-depth investigations into the case had begun as police also continued to hunt for the key suspect.

“We have arrested two people to help in investigations on the cause of the electrocution, and equally, we are still hunting for the key suspect, but we are preferring charges of Rush and negligence,” he said.

Vincent Chimbowa, a worker who also witnessed the incident, told the press that the crane operator was in the process of shifting the culverts, and during that process the pulley interfaced with the life wire, but still the operator continued to ask the deceased and his friend Rashid Wakate, who is undertaking treatment, to hold the crane pulley.

He said the deceased would not have died, but the management took too long to respond as they complained of no fuel.

He said that, to make matters worse, even after the death of their colleague, management took no steps to cause the arrest of the suspect, giving him room to flee.

Workers equally complained of poor working conditions at the camp, where harassment and mistreatment are the order of the day, coupled with poor pay.

However, the company’s human resources officer, Martine Looki, condemned the incident, adding that the fatal accident is the first of its kind.

He said the company will foot all burial expenses as well as execute the workman’s compensation policy to have his family compensated.