How the Current Power Crisis in Uganda Started

The greatest challenge facing Uganda today is the crisis in the power sector. The drop in the installed hydro-power capacity of 380 megawatts (mw) to 135mw as of May 2006 is unacceptable. And yet the downward trends have continued without any permanent solution in sight.

Various reports, including the recent one by the Parliamentary Committee on National Economy, have recorded a big fall in the national economic growth. All accusing fingers point to the power crisis. This could have been foreseen and addressed in time by a caring government. Power shortage grew over many years till it reached the present crisis level.
The effects of power cuts on all sectors of society have been devastating. It is not possible to gauge which sector is most affected. Industries have had to operate on alternate days, resulting in much lower production levels and greater overhead costs. Many have now imported and installed their own generators, but with much higher production costs which are passed on to the final consumer.

Even important institutions like Parliament, hospitals etc have not been spared by power cuts. Some patients could meet their worst in hospital theatres during surgical operations. Parliament is sometimes adjourned pre-maturely, because its own generator is about to go off. The list is endless. But the question is: how and why did these terrible power cuts come about?

How on earth could a serious government spend 13 years on construction of a dam/power station with an installed capacity of 60mw, against the estimated annual power demand growth of 80mw, and in a country with several studied and surveyed better sites?

Lake Victoria, the second greatest fresh water lake in the world, is being drained in our full view. The estimated fall in the lake’s water level is now more than two metres. To blame this on the recent long drought is laughable.

AllAfrica