By: Kato Paul
It is noted that the government of Uganda enacted the electricity act of 1999 intending to address the challenges of deemed power that have been happening in the electricity sector.
However, this electricity act of 1999 has not achieved its expected targets because most of the challenges that the act was intended to address still exist in the electricity sector.
The issues still existing in the sector include the high tariffs, vandalism, stealing of the power and deemed power among others. This is because the electricity Act of 1999 is so silent about the implications of the deemed power.
This is evidenced by some electricity companies in Uganda starting the construction of the dams without compensating the project affected persons. This have contributed to the failure of the construction of some dams in Uganda like Karuma, Aswa and others
It was observed that in 2019, about 78 house holders affected by the Aswa dam project refused the compensation because it was too small compared to the value of their land therefore the government did not evacuate electricity due to the misunderstanding between the government and locals.
The scenarios above are happing because of the failure by the government of Uganda to involve the public in the power purchase agreements (PPA) which would help the locals to understand the project, limited information about the projects and weak electricity laws.
It should be noted that Uganda’s electricity per capita consumption is still low 215kwh compared to Africa average of556kwh and at the world 2915kwh because of these challenges still exist with the small percentage of people connected to the grid due to the high tariffs and this have instigated to the massive destruction of the forests and wetlands across the country by the locals searching for charcoal and firewood (biomass) for cooking.
According to the Uganda Bureau of statistics national housing survey, only 19% of Ugandans have access to grid electricity therefore, this small percentage of the population connected to the grid have resulted to the loss of about 100,000 forest cover across the country per year
In my opinion I think that this ongoing amendment bill 2022 should include the provisions for evacuating the power to the consumer before the finalizing the construction of any dam in the country.
Kato Paul-Research Associate at Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO)
Katop.adyeeri@gmail.com
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