By Our Reporter
NATIONAL
Government has revealed that it has prepared Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) to take over the operations of UMEME.
This was revealed by Ruth Nankabirwa, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development in a press briefing on Friday 5th January, 2024 at Uganda Media Center.
Nankabirwa confirmed that the UMEME Concession will expire on the 1st April, 2025 and it will not be renewed with its concession reverting to government.
She revealed further that UEDCL has been given the financial and technical support required to seamlessly receive and operate the network without any consternation.
“All efforts are being made to support the UEDCL get ready to take over the operations of the Umeme network come 1/4/25,” Nankabirwa said adding that a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) has been put in place to supervise and manage the transition process from Umeme.
UMEME follows the Namanve Eskom and PACMECS concessions that expired and reverted to the government.
She also said that government of Uganda, with support from the World Bank acquired funding of US$638 million to implement the Energy Access Scale-up Project (EASP). Under EASP over 1,360,000 households, industrial Parks, SMEs, refugees, and host communities will get connected.
She says the project is expected to kick off in January 2024 and will be implemented alongside other existing initiatives such as the hybrid connection policy and the rebate policy.
