Nankabirwa Writes to Nabbanja: UEDCL Crisis ‘Too Big To Hide’

The Energy Minister argued that ignoring performance deficiencies would endanger the electricity sector more than confronting them, especially given mounting public frustration.

Uganda’s Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa has defended her directive for a full board-led investigation into state-run power distributor UEDCL, telling Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja that deep operational failures uncovered after the exit of former concessionaire Umeme required urgent scrutiny, according to internal government letters seen by ChimpReports.

In her response to Nabbanja’s December 3 order halting what the Prime Minister described as a “planned massive termination” of UEDCL senior managers, Nankabirwa said her ministry had been misunderstood and insisted she had never called for mass firings.

Instead, she said she demanded an inquiry because a confidential Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) review had exposed serious “lapses that threaten system security, safety, revenue integrity and sustainability” of the national power network.

Nankabirwa explained that the inquiry was necessary to diagnose why electricity reliability had deteriorated sharply since April 2025, when UEDCL took over the distribution network after the government declined to renew Umeme’s 20-year concession.

The transition had placed UEDCL, an entity that last operated the grid two decades ago, under intense pressure to absorb more than 2,700 ex-Umeme staff and re-engineer complex ICT systems, customer platforms and maintenance schedules.

Power Outages

But the ERA report, she noted, revealed frequent power outages, voltage fluctuations, slow fault restoration, prolonged delays in new customer connections, procurement gaps, and human-resource governance failures.

These findings, she said, justified her order for a board-led inquiry and a comprehensive implementation plan to fix the system.

“My Ministry is now awaiting the report of the Board of UEDCL on their inquiry and findings, which will inform further decisions,” she wrote.

Her letter also responds directly to Nabbanja’s concerns that an investigation might destabilise the firm during an election year.

Nankabirwa argued that ignoring performance deficiencies would endanger the electricity sector more than confronting them, especially given mounting public frustration.

Consumers have increasingly complained of unplanned outages, weak customer service and delayed new connections, while industries have warned that inconsistent supply is undermining productivity.

Ventures

She dismissed claims that she was secretly moving to reintroduce private-sector joint ventures in power distribution, stressing that such policy shifts fall under Cabinet and could not be pursued unilaterally.

Her directive, she said, focused solely on accountability, operational stabilisation and averting further deterioration in service delivery.

Prime Minister Nabbanja, in her earlier letter copied to President Yoweri Museveni, had warned that any abrupt restructuring of UEDCL’s top managers could trigger outages, unsettle newly absorbed staff and damage the government’s image during a sensitive political season.

She instructed the UEDCL board to halt any termination processes, suspend discussions on private partnerships, and furnish her with the ERA performance report.

Nankabirwa, however, maintained that an investigation remained unavoidable.

She said the probe would enable the government to understand what went wrong after Umeme’s departure and ensure the public utility is equipped to restore reliability.

“The Board was required to conduct a board-led inquiry and compile a comprehensive report to address the identified lapses,” she wrote.

The exchange highlights growing tensions within government over the readiness of UEDCL to manage the grid after Umeme’s exit and reflects the political sensitivity of electricity reliability as Uganda enters the final stretch toward the 2026 elections.