Despite hosting some of Uganda’s largest hydroelectric power stations along the River Nile, thousands of residents across the Busoga sub-region continue to live without access to grid electricity. The disparity has left local communities reliant on candles and kerosene lamps, effectively crippling businesses and essential social services that depend on reliable power.
The region hosts major power installations, including the Kiira and Nalubaale power stations in Jinja. However, the energy generated locally has failed to reach many surrounding communities, creating a stark paradox for residents who watch power travel past their doorstep to other parts of the country.
The economic and social toll of this energy deficit was highlighted during a recent thanksgiving ceremony for Bugweri County Member of Parliament Sadala Wandera. Local leaders and community members seized the occasion to demand answers from government officials regarding the persistent lack of grid extensions in their villages.
Ms Zulaika Nayumbwe, the village chairperson for Bubenge, urged immediate intervention from key stakeholders, noting that decades of waiting have severely hindered local development. She stressed that access to electricity is no longer a luxury, but a basic requirement for youth employment through ventures like hair salons, maize mills, and food preservation.
Echoing her concerns, Mr Grace Tenywa, a Bubenge resident, explained that the absence of refrigeration prevents young entrepreneurs from operating butcheries or cold-storage enterprises. He emphasized that extending the national grid is essential for empowering the youth to establish sustainable livelihoods rather than remaining unemployed.
The power deficit extends beyond small enterprises, actively hampering basic healthcare delivery in rural areas. Mr Nelson Ojore, the assistant in-charge of Bubenge Health Centre II in Igombe Sub-county, Bugweri District, revealed that the facility struggles to perform routine procedures due to a lack of power for equipment sterilization. Furthermore, the absence of electricity prevents the health center from operating efficiently at night, creating life-threatening delays for patients seeking emergency care.
The situation is equally dire in neighboring districts like Namayingo, Luuka, and Mayuge. Ms Winfred Nabirye, a resident of Kifuyo A village in Namayingo District, shared how her daily life relies entirely on candles, preventing her from preserving food or starting a enterprise. In Luuka District, residents from areas including Ndoya, Wadago, and Buwaiswa are forced to travel long distances to towns like Iganga or Budhabangula just to charge mobile phones, grind maize, or visit a salon. Mr Paul Byakika, a resident of Luuka, noted that his plans to open a stationery shop and a maize mill remain stalled because power lines do not reach his village.
Addressing the gathering, MP Sadala Wandera acknowledged that rural electrification remains a critical gap across Bugweri and the broader sub-region. He attributed recent delays in grid extension to the ongoing rationalization and merger of state electricity agencies, which caused some contractors to halt work mid-project. However, Mr Wandera reassured residents that he has engaged the Ministry of Energy, which plans to deploy surveyors to map out unserved villages before resuming installation work. He emphasized that reliable electricity is vital if rural farmers are to add value to their agricultural produce and meaningfully join the commercial economy.
In response, the Third Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio, Ms Rukia Isanga Nakadama, confirmed that the government is actively working to resolve the power backlog nationwide. She clarified that the temporary pause in rollout was caused by restructuring within the energy sector, where entities like the Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL), Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL), and Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) were consolidated to streamline operations and optimize funding. Ms Nakadama assured residents that full-scale grid extension has resumed and every village will eventually be covered.
Supporting the push, the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Jacob Oboth-Oboth, who served as the chief guest at the event, pledged parliamentary backing for legislators advocating for power extension in their constituencies. He reiterated that electricity access is foundational to improving education, healthcare delivery, and overall economic performance across off-grid communities.
According to a research study published on ScienceDirect, Uganda’s national electricity generation capacity has expanded significantly from 609.4MW in 2012 to over 2,000MW. Despite this growth, total national access remains low at roughly 25.3 percent, with rural coverage dropping to just 9.1 percent.
Data from the 2024 Uganda Bureau of Statistics national census underscores deep rural-urban disparities within Busoga itself. While urban centers like Jinja City recorded a grid connectivity rate of 67.8 percent among households, rural districts lag far behind. In Buyende District, only 2.5 percent of households utilize grid electricity for lighting, followed by Bugiri at 12.7 percent, Mayuge at 13.8 percent, and Kamuli at 16.1 percent.
To address these nationwide gaps, the government is leveraging funding from the Uganda Rural Electricity Access Project (UREAP), backed by the African Development Bank under the broader African Development Bank and World Bank “Mission 300” initiative. Following the completion of its first phase, which connected over 137,000 households, approval was granted for UREAP Phase II. The Shs453.7 billion project involves constructing thousands of kilometers of medium and low-voltage distribution networks to connect an estimated 259,000 new customers, including households, small businesses, schools, and health facilities across the country.