Busujju County MP David Lukyamuzi raised the matter in Parliament on Thursday, saying that the government contracted Tisan Company in 2019, to supply and distribute electricity in Kitongo parish. Mityana District. He, however, added that the project was abandoned after covering only 50 per cent of the planned area.
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Wired electric pole. Photo by Dominic Ochola
The Ministry
of Energy and Mineral Development has been tasked to explain the status of rural electrification projects across the country.
Busujju
County MP David Lukyamuzi raised the matter in Parliament on Thursday, saying that the government contracted Tisan Company in
2019, to supply and distribute electricity
in Kitongo parish. Mityana District. He, however, added that the project was abandoned after covering only 50 per
cent of the planned area.
He added that the government
contracted Mega Electricals to distribute power in Butayunja Sub County but this was also abandoned midway. Similarly, Tororo Woman MP Sarah Opendi said that the power projects across the country stalled and that there was a need for a nationwide field
assessment to identify and address the prevailing bottlenecks.
Joseph Ssewungu,
the Kalungu West County MP pondered why electricity projects continue to
stall yet funds were appropriated. “In some places, there are no yaka metres
yet they were supposed to be free of charge because we passed the money here
through a loan. Why are these projects stalling yet the money was allocated
here?” Ssewungu questioned.
Parliament
approved a loan request by the Ministry of Finance to borrow US$212.6,
approximately Shillings 765.772 billion from China Exim Bank in 2018 to extend
electricity supply to 287 Sub-Counties across the country but progress has been slow.
In view of the outcry, the Deputy
Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa directed the Ministry of Energy under which the Rural
Electrification Agency - REA falls to explain why the government has not completed rural electrification projects across the country.
“Let
the Minister of Energy come and give us a comprehensive statement on
the implementation of REA projects because the government is losing a lot of money.
Imagine in some areas, transformers get damaged before commissioning,” Tayebwa
said. He
gave the Ministry until Wednesday, May 18, 2022, to present to House a
comprehensive statement on the implementation of REA projects.
Journalist
Ochola's journalism career begun from Radio King 90.2 FM in Gulu around 2009, and Radio Rupiny 95.7 Fm under Vision Group in 2012. He also reported for Mighty Fire 91.5 Fm, Kitgum in 2015 before joining Wizarts Foundation in 2017.
He has been reporting for Uganda Radio Network (URN) since 2017 before being posted as Bureau Chief Kitgum, and latr Gulu between 2018 - 2021. Currently, he reports from Parliament.
