The Managing Director of Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL), Paul Mwesigwa, has revealed that the company has lost four million units of electricity, translating into billions of shillings, due to the vandalism of transmission towers in Mukono.
“We sell about 16 million units monthly in the area, and being off for six days means we have lost about four million units,” Mwesigwa said during a meeting between investors and officials from UETCL and UEDCL on November 22, 2025.
The power blackout, which has lasted for four days, has affected 128,000 customers, including 200-300 manufacturers. Mwesigwa stated that the company is planning to restore power after a six-day blackout, probably on Tuesday.
“We are supposed to get 157 megavolts; unfortunately, we can only get 15 from the alternative supply, and that is SCOUL. So we are in a shortage of over 90 percent of the energy that we need to supply to our customers in the region,” he said.
UETCL Chief Executive Officer Richard Matsiko appealed for calm among the affected investors and communities, assuring them that restoration efforts are in progress.
“We have mobilised adequate resources, and supply is expected to be restored by early next week,” Matsiko said.
Investors have expressed deep frustration over the power blackout, which has severely disrupted production across multiple factories.
“The impact is growing by the hour,” said Sam Mukisa, the Human Resource Manager at Landy Industries Limited. “We can not run the machinery on generators, and our workers who earn daily wages are idle.”
Gavran Dwivedi of Tembo Steels Limited warned that the outage is significantly affecting their steel operations. “We request the government to restore the supply immediately and reinforce security on the transmission lines to prevent a recurrence,” he said.
The power blackout has also affected water supply, with the National Water and Sewerage Corporation reporting a reduction in water production capacity.
“Because of the vandalism, the electricity that has been replaced by UETCL is not able to produce enough water; we are instead producing about 50 million litres, meaning we have lost half of our production capacity,” said Samuel Apedel from National Water and Sewerage Corporation.
The affected areas without water include Eastern Kampala, Mukono district, Namugongo, Gayaza, Kamwokya, Kireka, Mbuya, Matuga, and surrounding areas.
Eng. Protaze Tibyakinura, Chief Engineer for Technical Services at UETCL, confirmed that three substations were affected, cutting off supply to multiple facilities/industries, including Tian Tang, Kampala Cement, Quality Plastics, Landy, Abacus parenteral drugs limited, the Katosi Water Project, Mpoma, Mbalala, and the Tembo substations.
He also said that in the process of vandalism, one of the suspects was electrocuted and his body was removed by the technical team.
Technical teams have been deployed to work around the clock to restore supply.