OPINION
Today, as we mark over 171 days of UMEME’s exit and UEDCL’s takeover of Uganda’s electricity distribution network, it is necessary to reflect on the various reforms implemented since 1999 and highlight the impacts of those reforms on the lives of citizens and the country’s development policies including the Energy Transition Plan (ETP) of 2022.
At the time, government marketed the reforms and citizens embraced them, as a sure way to make electricity accessible, affordable, and reliable. Ugandans were promised that the reforms would address the endless problems of poor access, power outages, high tariffs, load shedding, power losses, lack of capital to invest in generation and distribution, monopoly in the sector and other problems, unfortunately, these challenges continue under UEDCL.
Ugandans have suffered one power outage after another since the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) took over the country’s power distribution network in April 1,2025. The power outages were also a challenge during the period of March 2005 to March 2025 in which UMEME distributed power in the country. UMEME electricity distribution tenure was marked by challenges such as limited energy access, unreliable power supply and expensive power.
It should be remembered that UEDCL was established over 25 years ago as part of the Uganda’s electricity reforms that officially commenced in 1999 when the current Electricity Act was enacted. The main objective of the reforms was to open up the electricity sector as a means to attract private investments in the hope that this would introduce competition and improve efficiency in generation, transmission, distribution, and regulation.
Under the 1999 Electricity Act, government, supported by many development partners, designed and implemented many reforms including formulation of the 2002 National Energy Policy, Rural Electrification Policy, Renewable Energy Policy plus the establishment of the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) as the sole regulator of the electricity sector in the country. Further, three electricity companies were incorporated, namely Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL), Uganda Transmission Company Limited (UETCL), and UEDCL. The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) was also put in place.
The above policy reforms were followed by several projects as part of those reforms, including upgrading Owen Falls dam from 60MW to 180MW, constructing new dams including Kiira Dam (200MW), Bujagali Dam (250MW), Isimba Dam (183MW), Karuma Dam (600MW), and others. These dams increased the country’s generation capacity to over 1,800MW.
Sadly, apart from Bujagali, where private investors brought their own money and built the dam, by and large, the reforms failed to attract any private capital.
Indeed, after many years of implementing the reforms, the government of Uganda had to borrow over USD2 billion and hand it over to private Chinese companies to build Isimba and Karum dams. These and other reform failures have contributed to the national debt of over USD 46.8 billion, with environmental, social and economic impacts on the citizens.
More so, the reforms have miserably failed to eliminate the problems of energy poverty, high tariffs, power outages, power losses, vandalism, corruption, and others. Many questions remain. How does UEDCL plan to address the country’s many electricity distribution problems? What is UEDCL’s preparedness to support government’s plan on energy transition?
The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) must enforce stricter service delivery standards for UEDCL including measurable targets for reducing outages, lowering tariffs and improving customer service. UEDCL should also adopt transparent reporting and establish platforms for citizen feedback to rebuild public trust, which has eroded after decades of failed reforms. By increasing accountability and involving communities in monitoring performance, Uganda can ensure that electricity reforms genuinely work for all Ugandans.
Government and UEDCL should expand investments in decentralized renewable energy systems such as solar mini-grids, household solar systems and hybrid solutions for rural areas. This will reduce dependence on large hydropower projects which have been costly and debt-heavy while accelerating access, resilience and alignment with Uganda’s Energy Transition Plan (ETP) 2022.
By Olive Atuhaire, Research Associate
Email: atuhaireolivia72.ao@gmail.com
