Umeme Limited has officially handed over operations to the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL), marking the end of its 20-year concession agreement with the government.
After two decades of managing Uganda’s electricity distribution network.
The official handover took place at Umeme’s electricity substation in Lugogo, Kampala, with top government and energy sector officials expected to attend.
“In 2005, we were given a very small switch. Today, we are handing over a very big switch. When you look at the archives, there were challenges in the sector—efficiency issues, low connectivity, limited technical capacity, and lack of investment, making the electricity sub-sector unviable. You gave me 250,000 customers, and I’m handing over 2.2 million customers.” says Selestino Babungi, the MD Umeme.
The handover is a significant milestone in the country’s power sector, transferring assets worth billions of shillings back to government control.
The transition follows months of negotiations over the buyout figure, which saw the government reduce Umeme’s proposed $234 million (Shs853 billion) to $118 million (Shs430 billion) after a review by the Auditor General.
