The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu has revealed that government has received a 638M USD World Bank loan under the Electricity Access Scale-Up Project to expand electricity connectivity in different parts of the country including refugee host communities.
Nankabirwa while in Kande Village in Katikamu Sub County , Luwero district said that government through the Ministry of Energy will increase consumption of power by connecting a lot more people to meet the costs of it’s production and that under the World Bank funded project which is to run for three years – over one million households will be connected at free cost.
“We have started implementation of this project, put in place committees and we are now contracting out. We shall target those who have poles within their vicinity and we will connect them freely provided ,that houses are connected by certified people,” Nankabirwa stated.
Livingstone Luzinda a resident of Kande Village told the minister that there’s a private company that is charging locals Ug.Shs.700,000 each to have them connected to have electricity. So far 40 households have been targeted .
Luzinda told the minister that they had started collecting money but it was really a heavy burden for them and they decided to report the issue to the Deputy Secretary General of NRM Rose Namayanja to help them report the matter to the concerned authorities.
“We have tried to get electricity in our area but in vain. Some company asked us to pay Shs 700,000 for poles and connection but we couldn’t afford so we decided to run to Namayanja and we are pleased that she has heard our cry by bringing Minister Nankabirwa to intervene on this issue .”
Namayanja who acted swiftly said that she was shocked to hear that companies are charging people that illegal big sum of money yet power is the engine of development.
” Requiring people to pay money to bring power lines, to me was extortion and it paints a very bad image for NRM because this service is supposed to be free and this is why I decided to invite my colleague Nankabirwa such that she can directly get it from the horse’s mouth,” Namayanja said.
“I am glad that she promised to send a technical team to come and carryout the designs to ensure that this town that is near Kampala Gulu Highway gets power” Namayanja added.
Nankabirwa warned private companies to desist from charging people for power lines and connection because it is the responsibility of government to connect people to power.
“Government is obliged to connect people freely, so when I heard that there companies charging people for electricity connection, I was concerned because it’s not right, transportation of electricity is expensive so people should be calm and patient government is trying so hard to ensure that power is evenly distributed,” said Nankabirwa.
However, Energy Minister urged those that can afford gas to slowly start using it to protect the environment.
“The government is looking for money to move people from using firewood and charcoal to gas or electricity to save the environment.”
