The government has inaugurated a new Board of Directors to steer the operations of the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited – UETCL for the next three years.
This follows the ejection of Peter Ucanda led board on allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement. UETCL stakeholders resolved at their meeting held on March 15th, 2022 to disband the old board.
The affected board members including Chris Mugisha, Sarah Irumba, Richard Santo Apire, Grace Achieng Obura, and Abdon Atwine decided to petition Finance Minister Matia Kasaija on March 21, 2022, denying the corruption allegations leveled against them and pleaded for their reinstatement to no avail.
The six new member board is led by Kwame Ejalu Ejuku as chairperson. The others are Sharon Achiro Loka (Independent Director), Eng. Innocent Oboko Yotkum (Independent Director), and Sylvia Muwebwa Nabatanzi (Independent Director, James Mukholi Wamukota (Non-Independent Director), representative of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, and Eng. Cecilia Nakiranda Menya, also a Non-Independent Director representing the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. Both Ministries are the majority shareholders in UETCL.
The new Board members who were appointed effective April 7th, 2022 were inaugurated from the Energy Ministry headquarters at Amber House in Kampala Wednesday at a ceremony presided over by Minister Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu.
Nankabirwa tasked the new Board Chairperson to ensure that the board is well inducted about UETCL to enable the members to get well acquainted with their roles and responsibilities to meet the interest of the Company.
Evelyn Anite, the State Minister for Finance in charge of privatization warned the Board members against corruption, which she said led to the disbandment of the old board.
Kwame Ejalu Ejuku, who boasts of 22 years of experience in the insurance brokerage and pension management observed that the new team was well instituted with the requisite competence to deliver on their mandate.
About the new Directors Kwame Ejalu Ejuku He is the founder of Liberty Insurance Brokers Ltd. He is now Chairman, Afrisafe Risk Consultants. He holds Bachelor of Science Economics and Business Finance from Brunel University London.
Eng. Innocent Oboko Yotkum Eng. Yotkum is a professional Civil/Structural Engineer who is currently the Managing Director of Engineering PowerHouse (EPH) Ltd, a private firm. From 2011 to date, he has been offering technical assistance services for construction supervision of four bridges and one public market under Kasese District Poverty Reduction Programme.
Prior to that, Eng. Yotkum undertook the structural survey and establishment of data centre for the defunct Barclays Bank, Uganda. He also developed the design for rehabilitation of Mogas Fuel stations, reviewed drainage design for Lubigi channel for Kampala Capital City Authority – KCCA, also reviewed structural design for the proposed isolation wars at Mulago and Entebbe Grade B Referral Hospitals among others.
Sylvia Muwebwa Nabatanzi She is the former Chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission. She recently changed her name from Sylvia Muwebwa Ntambi to Sylvia Muwebwa Nabatanzi following numerous corruption allegations by whistleblowers contained in a petition in a May 22, 2019 petition delivered to President Yoweri Museveni.
She was accused of nepotism and unfairly dismissal over 11 staff and termination of the contracts of over 10 staff. In 2017/ 2018, the Auditor General advised her Commission to employ staff on permanent contracts but she reportedly declined causing financial losses to the Government.
Minister Nankabirwa defended Nabatanzi’s appointment arguing ‘she was cleared of the allegations and deserved second chance to serve.’
Sharon Achiro Loka
She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Sciences from Makerere University, and Masters in Management Studies from the Uganda Management Institute – UMI, a government-owned national center for training, research, and consultancy in management and administration in the country. Others are Mukholi Wamukota and Eng. Cecilia Nakiranda Menya
