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Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) has added 648,404 new connections to the national grid within six months since taking over management of UMEME, as revealed by UEDCL’s Managing Director, Paul Mwesigwa.
The number of new connections has increased from 1,782,085 to 2,430,489 since April 2025, when UEDCL assumed control from the private company.
Mwesigwa made this announcement on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at the State House Investors’ Protection Unit (SHIPU) during a weekly meeting with government agency leaders to discuss achievements and challenges.
Mwesigwa also highlighted the growth in grid-connected households, which increased from 1,687,267 to 2,327,898 during the same period. UEDCL’s grid length expanded from 3,431 km to 5,140 km, and total installed generation capacity rose from 1,362 megawatts to 2,049 megawatts.
Energy losses decreased from 19.1% to 16.8%.
“The government made a critical decision to take over all privately operated concessionaires,” Mwesigwa said.
“This is a significant achievement, and the government has done very well.”
The meeting, which is now in its fifth edition, was hosted by SHIPU and attended by key government leaders, including Patrick Birungi, Executive Director of Uganda Development Corporation (UDC), who chaired the meeting.
Benson Turamye, Executive Director of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), also participated, alongside Prof. Bruce Kirenga, Principal of Makerere College of Health Sciences.
Desmond Tutu Opio, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist at Uganda Energy Credit Capitalisation Company (UECCC), represented the company’s Managing Director.
Other dignitaries included Kule Walid, Assistant Commissioner at the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), who stood in for the Registrar General, and staff from SHIPU.
Edward Katende, CEO of Uganda Development Forum (UDF), and Osborn Turyasingura, head of the special interest groups secretariat, were also present.
Mwesigwa commended PPDA for accrediting UEDCL, speeding up the connection process.
Opio shared the vision of UECCC, which aims to reduce the share of biomass energy for cooking from 86% in FY 2018/19 to 50% by 2025, targeting over 353,000 households.
UECCC has partnered with 27 financial institutions and 87 energy companies to deploy over Shs134 billion, mobilising USD10 million in funding from the World Bank and other European development partners.
UECCC has distributed over 20,200 solar lanterns, 306,000 home systems, and 307 carbonised biomass cookstoves, among other energy solutions in rural areas like Mayuge and Pakwach.
PPDA’s Turamye noted that vandalism is still a challenge, particularly in rural areas. Mr. Kule praised UEDCL’s swift takeover, urging the government to publicise the results in the media.
Katende suggested breaking down these successes into digestible stories for wider public dissemination.