Eronda
Senior Member
- Dec 16, 2025
- 187
- 149
State owned Uganda Electricity Distribution Company (UEDCL) has made one year since it took over electricity distribution from private owned UMEME ending its 20 year operation on March 31, 2025.
“The first year has been about stability rather than transformation, keeping lights on while we fix inherited network weaknesses” Paul Mwesigwa, MD, UEDCL Said.
He added on and said they have stabilised the system. Now the real work begins building a network that can support Uganda’s future demand.
UEDCL reports a steady start growing it’s customer base to 2.7 million and delivering over 236,000 new connections within the year.
Under Umeme's 20-year concession, distribution losses dropped from 33% to 16%, but the $118 million buyout allowed UEDCL to implement a 14% tariff cut, saving consumers over Shs250 billion while adding 236,000 new connections.
However, sector analysts argue that these gains largely reflect short-term operational efficiencies rather than deep structural change in electricity pricing.
Louis Namwanja Kizito notes that distribution improvements alone cannot significantly alter tariffs, pointing to entrenched cost drivers within generation.
One year on, the fundamentals of the sector remain largely unchanged. Demand continues to rise, infrastructure gaps persist, and outages and vandalism continue to test the resilience of Uganda’s electricity distribution network.
Source: Nile Post
“The first year has been about stability rather than transformation, keeping lights on while we fix inherited network weaknesses” Paul Mwesigwa, MD, UEDCL Said.
He added on and said they have stabilised the system. Now the real work begins building a network that can support Uganda’s future demand.
UEDCL reports a steady start growing it’s customer base to 2.7 million and delivering over 236,000 new connections within the year.
Under Umeme's 20-year concession, distribution losses dropped from 33% to 16%, but the $118 million buyout allowed UEDCL to implement a 14% tariff cut, saving consumers over Shs250 billion while adding 236,000 new connections.
However, sector analysts argue that these gains largely reflect short-term operational efficiencies rather than deep structural change in electricity pricing.
Louis Namwanja Kizito notes that distribution improvements alone cannot significantly alter tariffs, pointing to entrenched cost drivers within generation.
One year on, the fundamentals of the sector remain largely unchanged. Demand continues to rise, infrastructure gaps persist, and outages and vandalism continue to test the resilience of Uganda’s electricity distribution network.
Source: Nile Post
