The historical NRA/NRM government to connect the West Nile region to the national electricity grid has finally come to pass after President Museveni switched -on the 132kV Kole-Gulu-Nebbi-Arua transmission project which will evacuate electricity from Karuma, Agago and Nyagak dams to West Nile and parts of northern Uganda.
It was an exciting moment for Museveni to reflect on the historical relevance of the event when he underscored the progress of Uganda’s electricity sector and the story behind the journey of connecting West Nile to the national grid.
“The argument by some people who say that we had forgotten West Nile were wrong, they were not serious, they were disruptive actually,” President Museveni said.
“When the NRM came into government, the only installed power in Uganda was Owen Falls Dam with a generation capacity of 150 Megawatts, with only four turbines (15 Megawatts each) working out of 10. Therefore, the total Megawatts in Uganda was 60 Megawatts. And by contract we had to send 30 Megawatts to Kenya. This was a contract between the colonies of Kenya and Uganda long ago. Therefore, the actual power in Uganda was 30 Megawatts,” he added.
“The first thing we did was to repair Owen Falls Dam back to 150 Megawatts and fine tune the generators to add another 30 Megawatts, so we ended up with 180 Megawatts. We were selling 30 megawatts to Kenya and keeping 150 Megawatts for Uganda.”
The President however expressed disappointment over Members of Parliament in the past Parliament who frustrated his move to generate cheap electricity for Ugandans.
“I worked so hard and got an American group to develop Bujagali on a private basis and then we agreed that they should sell electricity at 4.9 cents per unit. When we took it to Parliament, they blocked it. Actually, you should find out who were these people (MPs) who blocked the proposal because we cannot go on like this. Actually, sometimes I feel I should go back to the bush and do some damage to something or what?” he said.
President Museveni further revealed that after the 2006 General elections, he tasked the cabinet to prioritise infrastructural development with a main focus on electricity and roads. And according to him, this directive played a big role in steering development in the country.
“That is when we created the energy fund and we put money there. That energy fund liberated us because we had freedom of action. Because of the energy fund, I started discussing with the Chinese to build Karuma and Isimba. Initially, we wanted to pay all of it ourselves from our budget but the Chinese Ambassador who was here said the Exim bank of China can extend a loan. That is how we ended up building Isimba of 183 Megawatts and Karuma of 650 Megawatts and so on.”
“Now in the meantime, my wonderful people went behind my back, that group is also there. They signed a new Bujagali agreement without my knowledge where they removed the agreement I had reached with the American company of 4.9 cents, then I heard that they had started building Bujagali. I didn’t know the details, I thought they had the same terms so when Bujagali is finished, what is the price? 16 cents.”
“There’s a lot of power waiting to be used. What I would recommend is to develop an industrial park somewhere in the West Nile near the power,” the President asserted.
Ruth Nankabirwa the Energy Minister expressed happiness that the West Nile sub-region has finally been connected to the national grid.
“I and my team took a decision to prioritise the connection of the West Nile region to the National grid amidst the many challenges and pressures that we have,” she said.
The Minister also commended President Museveni for his steady leadership characterised by peace, security and development.
“You invested in the stability of the country, you worked on the infrastructure; roads, transport and electricity beginning from generation. You cannot supply what you don’t have. You have mobilised money and new power stations and transmission lines have been established,” Hon. Nankabirwa noted.
The Ministry of Energy, through UETCL, its implementing agency, says it is committed to implementing the Vision 2040 and National Development Plan III through the completion of various power transmission projects which will ensure nationwide access to the national grid.
