One million poor to get free power connections, govt says

At least one million poor households across the country will get free electricity connections starting early next year, the minister for Energy, Ms Ruth Nankabirwa, has said.

Officiating at the Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL)’s annual general meeting yesterday, Ms Nankabirwa said government will kick off the World Bank-funded $638 million (over Shs2.36 trillion) Energy Access Scale-up Project (EASP) under which power will be made available to the poor.

“We shall help those who live near electric poles but are finding it difficult to raise about Shs700,000 to get power into their houses. There are those who cannot pay for wiring their houses so we have created red boxes which we will install in a strategic corner and give you the ...wire which will [carry] power into that box,” she said.

How it will work
Ms Nankabirwa said the red box will have two switches and two sockets so that the beneficiary can power the house and charge their phones.

“Our major aim is to reduce darkness and that is why we have ensured every region benefits,” she said.
The government launched EASP in early 2022 to increase energy access for households, enterprises, and institutions through grid and off-grid connections.

Ms Nankabirwa said her ministry is working towards increasing electricity access from the current 58 percent to 80 percent in 2025, and 100 percent in 2030.

“As we work towards connections, we are also ensuring that the generation is also stable. That is why the Finance ministry has committed to provide stable funding to UEGCL to enable them to maintain the Kiira and Namanve plants, which the government took over from Eskom and Jacobsen, respectively,” the minister said.

The UEGCL, she said, will increase generation after the 600MW Karuma Dam comes online in August next year.

Financial situation
Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of UEGCL, Mr Harrison Mutikanga, said the company registered significant financial progress, including revenue growth to Shs343.7 billion up from Shs210.9 billion the previous year.

The profits, he said, also grew to Shs33.9 billion in the reporting period compared to Shs27.8 billion in the previous year. Similarly, asset value also grew from Shs7.2 trillion in June 2022 to Shs7.7 trillion.

“Our financial performance was driven by prudent financial management and strategic investments. Generally, the UEGCL continued to safely operate and maintain all its hydropower plants -- the 183MW Isimba and 380MW Nalubaale-Kiira, and the 50MW Namanve thermal power plant in the financial year,” he said.

The UEGCL board chair, Ms Proscovia Margaret Njuki, said the company faced funding challenges for projects it is implementing on behalf of the government due to a tough economic environment characterised by high inflation and a tight fiscal position.

The state minister for Finance in charge of Privatisation, Ms Evelyn Anite, whose ministry holds in UEGCL on behalf of government, promised to provide more funding and also address prevailing concerns about salary discrepancies.