Each time there is no electricity in our house and yet I know Uganda produces 2,000 megawatts, has three power companies and a regulator, I ask myself: Why do we live with this colossal failure and make it seem normal? I ask this question with anger because I fail to comprehend how we have lived with outages for decades – and the power companies, the regulator, the government, the President, the politicians, the clergy are all doing pretty much nothing about it.
If you do not know how serious a problem this is, read on. In 1997, the Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) was unbundled, and in the years that followed, three companies were created: Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL), Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) and Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL).
The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), which supervises the electricity industry and is responsible for tariffs, also came into being. The unbundling of the UEB sought to boost power generation, transmission and distribution and ensure every electricity consumer gets reliable and adequate electricity. But there has never been a time – even in Kampala, the capital – when power outages seemed like a thing of the past. Never! And this should bother everyone who cares about how Uganda is managed.
When Umeme secured a concession in 2005 to distribute electricity and the government embarked on constructing power dams, the hope was that we would leave power outages behind. Regrettably, power outages continued in real earnest just one year after Umeme secured the concession. In 2006, it was hard to see, for example, lights near Parliament, the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, etc – prominent landmarks in the heart of Kampala. Yes, no electricity in central Kampala. Some problems take really long to solve, so we had to be patient. We waited for a marked improvement in power supply and reliability in vain. For 20 years – enough time for any country that is managed well to bring its electricity problems under control – we got nothing. Absolutely nothing in terms of reliable and adequate power.
Umeme’s concession expired and was not renewed. Some of us were greatly relieved. And we said good riddance! But people who are knowledgeable about Uganda’s electricity problems warned that celebrating the exit of Umeme – which maintains it had major accomplishments, although the people it served always lived with outages – was premature. UEDCL took over from Umeme this past April, and from what we have witnessed so far, Uganda is plugged into failure and is going to deal with a long, dark power story.
Electricity consumers are now dealing with excuses that have zero bearing on curbing outages and ensuring people get adequate electricity. UEDCL is saying it has distributed electricity for only a few months. That there is equipment that Umeme ought to have replaced but did not, so its time and financial resources have to be spent fixing the mess Umeme created. These excuses no longer make sense. Daily Monitor reported on October 6 the rift between ERA and UEDCL, saying it was contributing to the power outages. But we had outages for 20 years when Umeme was the main electricity distributor.
We have to admit we are dealing with failure of almost inconceivably epic proportions. We have failed to fix a problem we have lived with for more than 40 years.
I did mention politicians at the beginning and alluded to their failure to act. But, in retrospect, I guess I am naive. How do you expect them to fix outages when they never see them and assume everyone else – at least in Kampala – has the same luxury?
How do you expect ministers to fix outages when they have electricity 24/7 in their homes? If the politicians knew how we are suffering, they would act.