Power Blackouts: Is UEDCL seated on a good cache of resources?

Kampala, Uganda | URN | Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) has the resources to run the electricity distribution network, but the problem is implementation.

According to the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), the concern about persistent power outages should have been a concern of the past given the resources that the government has allocated to the power distributor after it reclaimed the concession from Umeme.

This raises questions about why consumers continue to experience power outages and delays in fault repairs.

“The company is now seated on a good cache of resources. The issue is what he talked about,” Dr Geoffrey Okoboi, ERA’s Director of Economic Regulation, told a major electricity stakeholder consultation in Kampala.

“The challenges are not now resources; the challenges are implementation,” Okoboi added.

Okoboi, however, maintained that the resources needed to support UEDCL had been provided for before the transition.

“Even before the company was able to cross from Umeme to the current operator, the regulator had foreseen, and as early as 2024, we had provided the resources,” he said.

He was referring to the 2024 cost-of-service study that informed the tariff framework that took effect when UEDCL assumed responsibility for distribution.

Okoboi argued that the arrangements made before the handover had provided for the resources needed to run the distribution business.

Okoboi was referring to concerns raised by UEDCL about the difficulties it faces in obtaining equipment.

The government had announced financing shortly before the handover. In March 2025, it said it was securing US$50 million through domestic borrowing for UEDCL capital investments.

But Isaac Mufumbiro, UEDCL’s Head of Strategy, Compliance and Regulation, told the same conference that the utility had committed about US$300 million in capital and operational expenditure without receiving the materials it expected.

“We have committed about $300 million in both CAPEX and OPEX, but I can tell you to this date that we’ve not had that filter through in terms of materials,” Mufumbiro said.

He blamed the anomaly on the Buy Uganda, Build (BUBU) policy, an initiative launched in 2017 to boost local goods and services. While appreciating the policy’s intention, he said it has not worked well when it comes to UEDCL procurements for transformers and related items.

He said some contracts for electricity meters had remained unfulfilled for eight months. He said the utility has had no option but to turn to international manufacturers for supplies.

Mufumbiro acknowledged that the transition had affected customer service.“Before I can make my submission, I want to empathize with the public and the customers. On behalf of the entire value chain, we’ve not had good customer service in the last maybe 20 months,” he said.

“I need to take accountability and responsibility as well as ownership for those events.”He attributed some of the difficulties to internal problems involving personnel, processes and systems, as well as vandalism and disruptions in the supply chain.

Mufumbiro said management and board-level changes, alongside internal reforms, were under way, although he acknowledged that the turnaround had taken time.

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“Why those internal issues become very pertinent is because, just like any other disruption, what we are dealing with are the consequences of that disruption,” explained Mufumbiro, who held the same position at Umeme.

Mufumbiro also cited vandalism and supply-chain difficulties. He said electricity infrastructure, including aerial bundled conductors and some transformers, had been vandalised, while local suppliers had struggled to fulfil orders for meters, transformers, cables and accessories.

Despite the difficulties, Mufumbiro thinks that UEDCL has made the turn since it took over from the concessionaire.

“Because I believe from my own assessment as a strategy person, we have made the turn despite the fact that it has taken us a lot of time. But there have been lessons learnt in that area.”

He revealed that meters from Chinese manufacturers were on their way to Kampala.

The claim needs to be tested against the procurement records. When were the contracts signed? Were they awarded before or after UEDCL took over? What delivery deadlines were agreed, and were suppliers paid? What action did UEDCL take when the deadlines were missed?

The answers would help establish whether the delays resulted from supplier failures, inadequate procurement planning, lengthy approval procedures or weaknesses in contract management.

They would also show whether the concerns raised at the handover about procurement rules were addressed or simply carried into the new arrangement.

The contrasting accounts by the regulator and the state-owned distributor demand answers: If resources were provided for UEDCL operations, why has the procurement of essential equipment remained a problem? Was UEDCL properly equipped to run the network?

The transition took effect on April 1, 2025, following the end of Umeme’s 20-year concession.

The questions are not limited to whether UEDCL has enough money to invest.

There is a question about why personnel is still a problem given that most of the former UMEME workers crossed to UEDCL under almost the same terms and conditions.

The potential delay in procurement issues was raised by some of the experts at the

“Big Switch ” event when the country’s energy sector transitioned from private company UMEME to state-owned Uganda Electricity Distribution Company.

“I recall that in 2005, when we took the concession, we were given a very small switch. And this switch has been built over time with the assistance and contribution from all stakeholders,” said Celestine Babunji, who had been Managing Director at UMEME for over a decade.

At the time, Babunji said they were handing over a business worth 700 million. “It is a $700 million revenue business growing at an average of 10%. That is what we are handing over, and we believe that should be protected because it can attract investments upstream, downstream, and in generation,” he suggested.

Besides a $700 million business, Babunji said that “The network has more than doubled; you handed over 5000 transformer zones, we are giving back 170,000 transformer zones, 34000 kilometres of lines, you gave me a quarter of a million customers, I’m giving you nine times that: 2.2 million customers,”

At the handover, some speakers called for procurement rules to be relaxed to enable UEDCL to obtain the equipment needed to operate and maintain the distribution network.

The concern was that lengthy procurement procedures could delay the purchase of essential materials and undermine the utility’s ability to respond to faults.

Ugandans are still complaining about the continuing power outages, the delayed fault repairs and the poor customer service more than a year after UEDCL took over from Umeme.

Former Energy Minister Engineer Irene Muloni, who previously served as UEDCL’s managing director, said in a television interview in September that the company had prepared for the transition and that many of Umeme’s employees had previously worked for UEDCL.

If most of the workforce returned, were there critical vacancies in technical, supervisory, or management positions? Were employees reassigned to unfamiliar responsibilities? Did the transition disrupt reporting lines, decision-making, or access to equipment? Or did the problem lie less with staffing numbers than with the systems and resources available to the staff?

Mufumbiro had, from the beginning of his submission at the 11th Africa Energy Market Place dialogue, stated that he would not delve into the internal matters. But those are questions UEDCL needs to answer with evidence rather than broad references to personnel challenges.

The question is what internal problems were specifically involved and how they affected the company’s ability to restore power, connect new customers, and maintain equipment.Muloni argued that Umeme’s experience in upgrading and expanding the distribution network during its concession should not be used to excuse the current service problems.She also pointed to possible weaknesses in operational efficiency, equipment availability and accountability.Engineer Muloni said the company needed staff with the right skills and tools, clear job descriptions, performance targets and managers held responsible for results.She also questioned whether government procurement procedures were slowing the purchase of transformers and other equipment required to restore electricity after faults.

Muloni also raised an allegation; she said she had heard that jobs may have been sold during the transition. More than a year later, procurement delays remain among the explanations given for poor service. If the procurement bottleneck was anticipated before the handover, what did UEDCL and the government do to prevent it from undermining service delivery?

In May, the government decided to send UEDCL Managing Director Paul Mwesigwa on forced leave and terminated the contract of board chairperson Lydia Ochieng-Obbo.

The changes, according to former Minister of Energy, Ruth Nankabirwa, were to allow a comprehensive review of the company’s management and operations. The change in leadership at UEDCL took place at the time when Mwesigwa and team were reporting a turnaround of the utility. By September 2025, UEDCL was presenting a positive account of its first six months in charge.

On September 16, Mwesigwa reported that the company had added 648,404 customers to the national grid since taking over from Umeme.

The number of customers had reportedly increased from 1,782,085 to 2,430,489. The number of grid-connected households had also risen from 1,687,267 to 2,327,898. Umeme’s Babunji and the return of the concession reported that they were giving Umeme 2.2 million customers, or nine times the customers at entering the concession, yet Mwesigwa was reporting 1,782,085.

Mwesigwa at the time credited the procurement changes that had accompanied the transition with improving the pace of new connections.

He commended the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) for accrediting UEDCL, saying the new arrangement had made connections “much faster”.

If connections were becoming much faster, how come that customers applying for meters still waited longer? That statement is an important starting point for examining what followed.

Mwesigwa implies that UEDCL’s change in procurement arrangements had improved its ability to deliver a service.

The government and UEDCL have pointed to the condition of the distribution infrastructure as one explanation for the difficulties.

A status report issued by UEDCL on April 21, 2026, and reviewed by the described a network under pressure from growing electricity demand, ageing infrastructure, overloaded substations and repeated breakdowns. The report put electricity demand at 1,217.7 megawatts in March 2026, up from 986.4 megawatts in April 2025. The report also showed that the number of active customers had grown from about 2.45 million to 2.76 million during the same period. That growth put additional demands on the distribution network, even as UEDCL faced the challenge of maintaining existing infrastructure.

The pressure was reflected in distribution losses. The report put losses in the first quarter of 2026 at 18.11 per cent, against an annual target of 13.65 per cent.

It described 18.07 per cent as the lowest loss level recorded since the transition from Umeme, indicating that the utility had made some progress but remained above its target.

Distribution losses represent electricity purchased but not ultimately billed or collected for. They can arise from technical problems in the network and commercial factors such as illegal connections or inaccurate metering. High losses reduce the revenue recovered from electricity supplied and can weaken the resources available for maintenance and investment.

The figures provide evidence of a system under strain. They do not, however, establish how much of the problem was inherited, how much arose from rising demand or how much resulted from management decisions after the takeover.

That distinction matters because the government’s responsibility did not end when the network was handed over. UEDCL was expected to maintain and improve the system, while the regulator was responsible for monitoring performance and enforcing licence conditions.

Nankabirwa had revealed that an assessment by the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) had identified operational and managerial gaps affecting service delivery.

She listed “a decline in electricity reliability, reflected in frequent outages, voltage fluctuations and slow restoration of supply” among the problems.

She also identified “prolonged delays in the processing and completion of new connections” and “delays in acquisition of essential repair, maintenance, and operational materials leading to slow execution of approved upgrade, expansion and restoration of the network”.

She further cited human-resource governance problems, saying these had weakened staff effectiveness and contributed to poor responses to customer needs.

Nankabirwa essentially echoed the concerns raised at the handover: access to equipment, the speed of procurement and the organisation of the workforce.

If UEDCL had reported faster connections and other improvements in September 2025, why did the regulator later identify delays in connections, maintenance and network upgrades?

Mwesigwa was sent on forced leave amidst the lingering questions that persist.The board chairperson’s contract was terminated, and interim leadership arrangements were put in place.

It is not clear whether the leadership changes created an opportunity to establish what had failed and what needed to change.

The public interest is not merely in the departure of senior officials, but in whether the review identified responsibility and produced measurable improvements.

UEDCL inherited a distribution system facing growing demand and maintenance needs. It also inherited experienced staff and received government support for the transition. T

he managers had been warned about procurement bottlenecks before the handover, yet procurement delays later featured among the reasons given for poor service.

The unresolved issue is what happened between those warnings and the results consumers experienced.

More than a year after Umeme left, the test is whether UEDCL can demonstrate that it has turned its resources, procurement reforms and management changes into reliable electricity for customers.