As the clock ticks down to April 2025, Uganda faces a looming electricity crisis, raising serious questions about the government’s readiness to take control from Umeme. The transition, intended to bring greater control to the nation’s power grid, is now mired in uncertainty, financial disputes, and fears of widespread blackouts.
Ziria Tibalwa, the CEO of the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), pulled no punches before Parliament’s Committee on National Economy. Her message was clear: Uganda is not prepared. “On our side, we aren’t even ready with the US$50 Million for UEDCL to start,” she declared, highlighting a critical funding gap. The delayed investment by the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) is just the beginning of the problems.
Tibalwa also pointed to the restrictive clauses in the Umeme concession agreement, which prevent government intervention until the contract’s natural end. This has left the nation vulnerable to recent power outages, which she attributes to the agreement. “I don’t know whether it is coincidence, but in the last one month, we have had serious outages,” she said, raising concerns about Umeme’s end-of-contract operations. “If we were to say that in the last one month they (Umeme) they do nothing, we would be stuck.”
Adding to the tension, the government’s plan to borrow US$190 million from Stanbic Bank Uganda for the Umeme buyout has hit a snag. The Auditor General has called for a halt to the loan’s approval, demanding a thorough audit of Umeme’s figures. “Let us get the figure presented finally by the Auditor General,” requested Joseph Hirya, Director of Audit, emphasizing the need for accurate figures amid discrepancies that suggest the buyout should cost only US$127 million.
Meanwhile, the human cost of this transition is becoming painfully clear. Minister of Energy Ruth Nankabirwa revealed that job losses are “inevitable.” She explained that the restructuring aims to eliminate duplication between Umeme and UEDCL staff. “Where we find out your job is already taken and we already have it with UEDCL, your contract has ended with Umeme, we are looking for a slot with Umeme, but we have this person who has been working with UEDCL, do we throw that person out and we bring in the Umeme person? If we interview both of them, the Umeme one and UEDCL, one of them is bound to lose. So this is inevitable,” Nankabirwa stated, acknowledging the difficult decisions ahead.
As Uganda approaches this critical juncture, the questions remain: Can the government secure the necessary funding? Will the audit resolve the financial disputes? And most importantly, can Uganda avoid a crippling blackout when Umeme’s concession ends? The answers will shape the nation’s energy future and the lives of its citizens.
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