President Yoweri Museveni has commissioned the newly constructed Kole-Gulu-Nebbi- Arua transmission line, that connects the West Nile subregion to the national power grid.
The 132kV power line was successfully energised at Nebbi sub-station. During the commissioning, Museveni highlighted some historical facts regarding 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,” he said.
Museveni added: “When the NRM (National Resistance Movement) 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, in total Uganda had 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.”
The President explained that after coming to power, what the NRM Government did was to find ways of increasing the amount of power in the country.
“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,” he said.
However, Museveni expressed disappointment with MPs in the past Parliaments, 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.
Sometimes I feel I should go back to the bush and do some damage to something,” he said.
After the 2006 general elections, Museveni revealed that he tasked the cabinet with prioritising infrastructural development with the main focus on electricity and roads.
And he said 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 could extend to us a loan. That is how we ended up building Isimba (183 megawatts) and Karuma (650 megawatts) and so on,” he observed.
Museveni added: “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.”
On the other hand, the President said that with the new power line, the country will be able to attract more investors who can set up factories in West Nile.
“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,” he asserted.
The energy ministry through Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL), the implementing agency, is committed to implementing Vision 2040 and National Development Plan III through the completion of various power transmission projects, which will ensure nationwide access to the national grid.
The event was also attended by Vice-President Jessica Alupo, minerals state minister Phiona Nyamutoro, Northern Uganda affairs state minister Dr Kenneth Omona and UETCL board chairperson Kwame Ejalu among others. Museveni hailed The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Ruth Nankabirwa, said she was happy that the West Nile sub-region has finally been connected to the national grid.
“My team and I 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.
Nankabirwa commended the President for his steady leadership characterised by peace, security and development. “You invested in the stability of the country, you worked on the infrastructure; roads 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,” the energy minister noted.
