A sharp confrontation has erupted between two of Uganda’s most powerful female political figures: Prime Minister Hon. Robinah Nabbanja and Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa, over the immediate future and management of the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL).
The bitter standoff stems from Nankabirwa’s reported proposal to terminate all senior managers at UEDCL, including the Managing Director, Paul Mweisgwa, and reintroduce a private company to take over the distribution mandate, barely eight months after the government bought out Umeme’s concession.
The dispute arose last week following a letter allegedly written by Minister Nankabirwa. The Minister’s push was reportedly based on a confidential performance review report by the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), which highlighted significant shortcomings in UEDCL’s operations during the first six months after taking over from Umeme on April 1, 2025.
However, the Prime Minister moved swiftly to block Nankabirwa’s proposed actions.
In a strongly worded letter dated December 3, 2025 (and copied to the Minister of Finance and the Attorney General), PM Nabbanja directly instructed the Energy Minister to halt her plans for privatisation and the termination of senior UEDCL management staff.
Halting Privatisation and Management Termination
PM Nabbanja’s intervention was aimed at preventing major policy instability and negative economic fallout. She instructed Nankabirwa to drop ambitions of sourcing a private distributor or joint ventures until Cabinet and the President could provide definitive guidance on the matter.
“Wait until the end of this election for further guidance from the Cabinet and His Excellency the President on this matter…” Nabbanja’s letter reads in part.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister instructed Nankabirwa to immediately halt all processes to terminate the contracts of senior UEDCL staff, warning of “unforeseeable dire consequences” for the government and stakeholders.
Nabbanja stressed that such mass termination would “cause unnecessary destabilisation in the UEDCL’s workforce and increase power outages, adversely affecting the industrial sector.”
She noted that it would also negatively impact the government’s image at a critical time.
Instead, the Prime Minister directed the Energy Ministry to “support the current UEDCL senior management team to stabilise the network, which I am told was left in a sorry state by Umeme.”
She also urged Nankabirwa to focus on completing ongoing network upgrades and customer connections.
Minister Nankabirwa Refutes Privatisation Claims
In a statement released on Friday following the news of the internal clash, Minister Nankabirwa refuted the core allegation that she was sourcing a private distributor.
“For clarity, there has been NO consideration or proposal to introduce a private power operator into Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL)’s distribution mandate,” Nankabirwa stated.
She acknowledged that an internal process was underway, stating that the UEDCL Board is finalising a technical inquiry she directed following performance concerns highlighted in the ERA report.
She also noted that “NO staff member has been terminated, and there is NO cause for public alarm.”
However, the Minister maintained that the focus remains on “reinforcing system reliability, strengthening institutional controls, and improving service delivery.”
Looming Consequences for Power Supply
The public standoff and internal disputes are occurring against a backdrop of persistent power supply challenges. UEDCL inherited a problematic distribution network following the end of Umeme’s 20-year concession, for which the government compensated Umeme with Shs428.9 billion as a buyout.
The conflict between the country’s top political offices over the future of UEDCL is not helping to solve the critical issue of ensuring a stable power supply to industries and Ugandans at large, which the Prime Minister noted is paramount.