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President Yoweri Museveni has called for the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) to be given a simpler name, stating that the current acronym is difficult for him and the general public to pronounce.
At a recent public function, the president admitted his unfamiliarity with the new power distributor’s name, asking the audience to remind him.
"I do not even know what it is called now. I call it the former UEB. I cannot pronounce all those letters. Let them get a simpler name that's easier to pronounce," he said
From Umeme to UEDCL
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The president's comments come just months after UEDCL officially took over the operations of power distribution from Umeme Limited in May of this year.
President Yoweri Museveni
This transition marked the end of Umeme’s 20-year concession, which began in 2005.
The government, heavily influenced by President Museveni's position, decided not to renew the concession, with the president accusing Umeme of making electricity too costly for both industrial and domestic consumers.
This move was part of a broader government strategy to regain full control over key utility sectors, aiming to lower power tariffs and improve service delivery for all Ugandans.
A UEDCL worker
The Return of the 'Former UEB'
In his struggle with the UEDCL acronym, President Museveni referred to the company as the "former UEB," a nod to the now-defunct Uganda Electricity Board.
The UEDCL was, in fact, formed in 2001 as a successor to UEB when the state utility was unbundled into three separate entities: the Uganda Electricity Generation Company (UEGCL), the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company (UETCL), and UEDCL.
The latter was given the mandate to own and manage the national electricity distribution network.
While Umeme was the face of power distribution for two decades, UEDCL remained the asset owner and has now fully reassumed its role as the operator, bringing the sector full circle back to state control.