The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD) has acknowledged the ongoing power supply challenges affecting various regions in Uganda and reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring the country’s energy needs are met efficiently and sustainably.
While Uganda’s power supply remained reliable for most of 2024, the growing national electricity demand has led to certain substations becoming overloaded, prompting the need for urgent upgrades to parts of the electricity transmission and distribution network.
The Ministry stated, “The Ministry and its key partners have prioritised operational maintenance activities to resolve these reliability issues across the network and improve the efficiency of our power supply system.”
Several factors have contributed to the recent power outages in the country. Critical equipment failures at key installations have interrupted supply to affected areas.
In some instances, certain sections of the power network have been unable to handle the increasing load due to insufficient capacity in certain parts of the system.
The Ministry also cited incidents of vandalism and theft, particularly along the Kawanda to Masaka Transmission Line, which have significantly disrupted power supply in these regions.
In addition, bush burning, especially in the Kiryandongo/Karuma area, has caused additional damage to transmission lines, compounding the interruptions.
In response to these challenges, the Ministry is actively working to address the issues by prioritising urgent maintenance and upgrades to the power supply system.
Funding has been allocated to ensure these improvements are carried out efficiently, guaranteeing continuous service and reducing disruptions.
The Ministry has urged citizens to avoid activities like vandalism and bush burning that compromise the integrity of the national power grid.
“We appreciate our customers’ patience and continue to urge all citizens to avoid activities that could compromise the integrity of the national power grid,” the MEMD concluded.