Monitor, August 2 - 8, 2006
Inside Politics |
Museveni hasnt lived his energy promises
As the country continues to grapple with an acute power crisis with no apparent end in sight, a litany of excuses and promises continue to flow from the government. President Yoweri
Museveni has made excuse upon excuse and blamed different people including donors and the opposition for the crisis. Daily Monitors Political Editor Mr Andrew M. Mwenda, looks at the promises the President has made over the years.
June 8th, 1991: Musevenis address to students at Makerere University as quoted in What is Africas Problem.
Coming to the problems you have raised, I would like to touch on your problem of electricity load shading - a situation in which you have electricity for some hours after which it is taken to another place. These are the cumulative effects of what we have been going through.
Our small power station at Jinja was capable of generating 150 mega watts of electricity when it was built in 1954 and when the population of Uganda was four and a half million people. By the time we came to government in 1986, its capacity had declined to 120 megawatts and the population of Uganda is now 17 million.
In the meantime, countries like Tanzania which were behind us in electricity generation, but did not undergo the same problems as we did were by 1986 producing a total of 370 megawatts. In other words, Uganda was producing less
than one third of Tanzanias total power output.
We have however struggled to repair and upgrade our power station to 180 megawatts. At the same time we are struggling to build a second power station on the eastern side of the River Nile. This will produce about 200 megawatts. Five years from now (1996), we shall have arrived at Tanzanias 1986 power position.
1996 Election Manifesto
Tackling the Tasks Ahead
Under the sub theme: Power, telecommunication and water
We are in the process of expanding hydropower generation from the 60 megawatts which we inherited in 1986 to 400 megawatts within the next two years. We are already generating 162 mw.
2001 Election Manifesto:
Consolidating the Achievements of
the Movement
Energy
When the movement government assumed powering 1986, Owen falls power station was in a state of total disrepair.
Of the ten generating units, with a capacity to generate 150 megawatts, only 4 units were working, producing 60 megwatts. Through rehabilitation and upgrading, the capacity of the power station has been increased from its original capacity of 150 megawatts to180 megawatts.
Expansion of power generation
In order to address the growing demand for electricity, the government has constructed a new 200-megawatts power plant, the Kiira power station. Already two generating units of the extension have been commissioned, adding 80 megawatts to the power production. This considerably reduced load shedding. Funds to install and commission the remaining three units have already been secured. The entire project will be fully operational in 2002.
Given the mandate, we intend to consolidate our gains that have enabled us to rise generation of hydropower from a mere 60 megawatts in 1989 to 260 megawatts in the year 2000.
The generation capacity will further be increased to 380 megawatts in 2002 and 630 megawatts in 2004 when the Bujagali hydropower project will complete and fully commissioned. Increased production of cheap hydro power will not only make Uganda a power exporter but will also increase our countrys investment opportunities and competitiveness within the region.
2006 NRM manifesto Prosperity for All.
Power sector
The NRM government recognizes the power sector as being practical to its mission of transforming Uganda from a peasant society into a modern, industrial and prosperous society. Power is an engine for growth in many ways such as transforming raw materials into final products, operating machinery for manufacturing and
agro-processing, lighting running offices and other mechanized equipment, communication technology refrigeration and many others.
Achievements
As all Ugandans have noted, there is a new wave of electricity shortages, commonly known as load shedding. The government had overcome this load shedding when it repaired the old Jinja plant that was only producing 60megawatts in 1986 back to its original capacity of 150 megawatts and upgraded it to 180 megawatts. Government then built a new one on the east bank of the Nile that can produce 200 megawatts if the water in the river is
enough.
The plan then was to build three new dams: Bujagali 250 megawatts, Kalangala 450megawatts and Karuma 150 megawatts. Investors for all three had been identified: AES-Bujagali, Norpark-Karuma and the Egyptians for Kalangala.
The plans, however, were opposed by two players: the Sixth Parliament of Uganda influenced by elements that later, emerged as Parliamentary Advocacy Forum (PAFO) and, then FDC and by the so called donors. The donors
were using the false arguments about the size of demand. They were saying that if Uganda built two or three new dams at ago, she would face a new danger of too much electricity.
This was a false position and the government said so. The MPs were using the 1995 constitution to meddle, negatively, in the work of the executive. Indeed many hours were spent meeting parliament to no avail. This delayed the AES agreement for seven years.
Eventually AES developed its own problems. However if it had not been for the obstruction
of parliament, by the time AES developed problems, the dam would have been largely constructed. Even with the collapse of the AES arrangement, the government of Uganda would have been able to quickly finish the dam.
That would have given the country an extra 250 megawatts by now. The current deficit is between 20-30 megawatts (during the day) and 120-130 megawatts (during peak time). This deficit is however owed to the growth in population and growth in small scale industries that have exerted demand on the current electricity generation. This deficit, therefore, obscures the actual growth in electricity generation.
Future programs;
Government has renegotiated with funding agencies for the Bujagali project and construction work is expected to begin in July 2006.
The President has several times blamed the opposition, particularly MPs that have since joined the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) for failing the Bujagali project.
Members of the Parliamentary Committee on the National Economy of the
Sixth Parliament:
Isaac Musumba, Chairman
(NRM)
Aston Kajara (NRM)
Seth Wambede (NRM)
Mike Mukula (NRM)
Masiko Kabakumba (NRM)
Musoke Kintu (no party)
Sam Rwakoojo (NRM)
John Eresu (NRM)
Atwoki Kasirivu (NRM)
Benedict Mutyaba (NRM)
Phenehas Katirima (UPDF)
Ndaula Kawesa (NRM)
Aleluya Ikote (no party)
Mugisha Muntu (FDC)
[Note: The committee of Parliament between 1996 to 2001 rejected the governments plans on grounds that among others the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) was grossly unfavourable to Uganda. The party affiliation of the committee members represents those that have remained in active politics with some still MPs in the eight Parliament while others are clear about their affiliation in the multi party political dispensation. Members listed with no party affiliation have since left active politics.]
June 15th, 2006, Presidential communication from the chair after reading the budget
The minister has said power generation has fallen to 135 megawatts, and as a consequence, manufacturing has declined by over 3.5 percent in one year.
When we came here in 1986, Uganda was generating only 80 megawatts of electricity. We increased that to 380 megawatts, but have now fallen back to 135 mega watts. We are now planning to build two new dams which we shall finish within 44 months. This should give us 400 megawatts of electricity.
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Some ink about AES is as follows:
CORPORATE CRIME AND THE CRAZE FOR HUGE HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN UGANDA: THE ALTERNATIVES (Part II)
AES pulls out of $580 million Uganda dam project
AES Backs Out of Bujagali Dam Project
Power Giant AES Withdraws From Uganda Dam Project
etc, etc
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