By Joselynne R. Rwabwogo
Almost everywhere I go, I am asked the same question: Why does our electricity keep going off?
Sometimes it comes from a business owner whose operations have been interrupted, a manufacturer concerned about production losses or a parent frustrated by another evening without electricity. Often, there is a second question: What exactly is UEDCL doing about it?
These are fair questions, and Ugandans deserve clear answers.
I understand the frustration. Electricity is essential to our homes, businesses and livelihoods. When supply is interrupted, the consequences go beyond inconvenience. At UEDCL, we recognise that customers judge us by whether electricity is available when they need it and how quickly we restore it when something goes wrong.
Why are outages happening?
In 2021, Uganda had approximately 1.64 million electricity customers. Today, that number has grown to 2.78 million, an increase of nearly 70% in five years. This is welcome progress, but investment in the infrastructure required to serve this growing demand has not kept pace.
Think of a road designed for a certain volume of traffic. As more cars use it without expanding the road, congestion becomes inevitable. Our electricity distribution network faces a similar challenge.
About 40% of the switching equipment in our substations has been in service for more than 25 years, with some equipment so old that replacement parts are no longer available. Meanwhile, electricity demand has grown by approximately 60% in four years.
The strain is evident. Mutundwe substation is operating at 130% of its rated capacity, while Busunju is at 124%. Both are carrying considerably more demand than they were designed to handle.
For customers, this means more frequent interruptions and longer restoration times. Overloaded equipment is more vulnerable to faults, and when something goes wrong, there is often insufficient spare capacity to redirect electricity. A fault that might otherwise affect a few customers can leave an entire area without power for hours.
These challenges have accumulated over several years of inadequate investment. Addressing them requires strengthening the distribution network while improving how we respond to interruptions today.
What are we doing about it?
Our immediate priority is reducing interruptions and restoring supply faster when faults occur.
One important intervention is replacing failed transformers. A transformer failure can leave an entire neighbourhood without electricity, sometimes for extended periods while a replacement is secured.
In the year to July 2026, UEDCL replaced 1,110 distribution transformers, exceeding our target. We have also increased the availability of transformer materials in our stores from 44% to 50%, helping us address replacement delays.
We are also undertaking targeted improvements in areas experiencing persistent interruptions.
In Entebbe, we have upgraded sections of overloaded electricity lines, while in Mukono, an alternative supply route has been introduced to improve voltage stability.
In Mubende, changes to the network reduced recorded outages from 12 in one month to three the following month. We have also installed a new transformer to increase supply capacity.
Along the Bombo corridor, the commissioned Kasana substation provides an additional electricity supply source, helping relieve pressure on existing infrastructure.
Other interventions require larger investments. At Mutundwe, planned upgrades are expected to reduce loading from 130% to approximately 65%. The new Maya substation has been completed, with work underway to connect it to surrounding distribution networks.
Reliable electricity is equally important for industrial growth. In western Uganda, works are underway to integrate the Mirama Hills substation into the distribution network, improving supply to more than 30,000 households and 700 commercial customers across Isingiro, Ntungamo, Rukungiri and parts of Rwampara. Beneficiaries will include an iron-processing factory in Ntungamo requiring approximately 7MW of electricity.
We are working with Government and electricity sector partners to accelerate these projects, recognising that some will take longer to complete.
Our commitment
Infrastructure investment alone will not solve every problem. We must also improve how UEDCL operates.
This means strengthening fault detection, deploying technical teams more effectively and improving response times. It also means communicating proactively during outages rather than leaving customers to repeatedly follow up for information.
We are also addressing electricity losses, which stood at approximately 17.9%, down from 18.5% at the transition. We have reassigned 372 field staff to strengthen inspections, address illegal connections and improve accountability.
These operational changes matter because a more efficient organisation is better equipped to maintain the network and serve its customers.
I know that for someone who has spent hours without electricity, explanations about ageing infrastructure and investment requirements offer little comfort. What that customer wants is for the power to return and for the interruption not to happen again. That is the standard against which we must be measured.
Our responsibility is not simply to explain the challenges but to resolve them, communicate openly about our progress and deliver improvements that customers can experience.
Uganda’s growing electricity demand is a sign of progress. Our responsibility is to ensure the distribution network, and the organisation managing it, can keep pace.
The writer, Joselynne R. Rwabwogo, is the Acting Managing Director of Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL).
