Nankabirwa warns brokers against charging illegal power connection fees

Ugandans have been advised by Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa not to pay illicit fees for the provision of power in their areas. In Uganda, 10% of those living in rural regions and 57.2 % of those living in urban areas have access to electricity.

According to Luzinda Livingstone, a local resident of Kande village, they attempted as a village to request for an extension of power through the Rural Electricity Agency but were unsuccessful. According to Luzinda, a representative from UMEME approached them with a request to pay 22 million shillings, which the local leadership distributed among all the houses, resulting in each household contributing 700,000 shillings toward the extension of the village’s power line.

Due to the high costs, the village requested assistance from Deputy Secretary General of NRM Rosemary Namayanja, who is a born of their village.

Namayanja then invited the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Ruth Nankabirwa to Kande village on Sunday to explain the prices, which she claimed were excessive, to the locals. In addition, Namayanja requested that Minister Nankabirwa guarantee free electricity for the entire parish because it is close to the already-connected Wobulenzi town.

Minister Nankabirwa informed the locals that the central government is responsible for extending power to communities, hence the requested expenses were unlawful. According to Nankabirwa, when the power lines have been extended to the dwellings, the only charges that are reasonable are those for certified wiremen to wire the villages

According to Nankabirwa, Uganda now produces 2041 megawatts of energy, of which 900 megawatts are not used since the government does not have the funding to provide lines to all of the villages that need them. According to Nankabirwa, this has led to the government obtaining a second grant under the Electricity Access Scale-Up Program to provide electricity to a million people.

Nankabirwa instructed that Bukeeka parish be included in the same program and that the homes receive free electricity.

About 20% of Ugandans, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, had access to power from the national grid as of 2022, and an additional 10% obtained electricity from solar household systems that could offer a basic package of energy services.