UEDCL’s digitalization of services boosting efficiency , customer satisfaction as Masaka regional office is unveiled

UEDCL’s digitalization of services boosting efficiency , customer satisfaction as Masaka regional office is unveiled

The Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL), a parastatal company whose primary purpose is to distribute electric power to domestic and commercial end-users in Uganda, has said its efforts of digitalization is significantly boosting power distribution by enhancing efficiency, reliability, and resilience.

‘’We continue our efforts to make sure that we provide a customer service that is fairly efficient and we have fairly modernized it, most of our transactions are mainly online. We have a fully registered list of all the wiremen as licensed by the regulator, they are on our database and we have automated the customer application. So, any wiremen to access our system should be fully registered with a registration number as issued by the  electricity regulation authority. That access is linked to our checklist and even authentication for the viability of that license’’, said Paul Mwesigwa, the Managing Director of UEDCL on Friday.

Mwesigwa was officially launching the  UEDCL  offices at Nyendo , Masaka in the Southern service territory (SST) on April 25 2025 , at a function attended by area UEDCL Managers , local leaders , security and the business community.

‘’It is from that application that the customer gets a notification that your registered wireman has applied for a job or a connection for you. And if that wireman is not registered, there is no way he or she can get access to our automation’’, Mwesigwa further noted that the company has to be efficient and customer focused because it is their principle of operations.

The office launch was on the sidelines of the strategic retreat planning to be deployed across the country which will be referred to as the retreat or strategy generated at Masaka .

‘’ 20 years ago the government had a policy of private led but around 2013 we started distributing power and we started disproving private led because of our efficiency in how we do things.

Mainly the non concessioned areas in the rural areas were being operated by UEDCL and we turned them around to make them self-sustainable and commercially viable. Because a utility which is not self-sustaining and commercially viable cannot provide a service.

If you are providing a social service, you can’t provide it when you don’t have money. You need to first make money, then you provide the service and we have already done so. That’s why the government decided to hand over the responsibility of our distribution across Uganda to UEDCL, having demonstrated our ability to manage the failures of utility provision, that’s the reason why we are here’’, Mwesigwa revealed.

He used this function to warn non registered wiremen that if caught  , they will be charged under the law of tampering with electrical installation.

He said UEDCL’s ‘DNA’ falls with customer and community engagement, and they have all sorts of channels including the media and community engagements .

‘’We have been in a position to access fairly cheap capital through the government. That’s why on the 1st of April this year, the regulatory authority announced a tariff reduction of 14% and I think for the manufacturers, they even gain better. They also enhance the cooking tariff, so the cooking tariff will be in position to be deployed for people living in cities like Masaka , Kampala and others’’, he assured Masaka customers.

Meanwhile, the Masaka Resident City Commissioner (RCC) Ahmed Washaki  urged UEDCL Masaka area office to  publicize power programs and projects so that people for-example  near polls can have access to power without disturbance. Washaki cautioned leaders to embrace and prioritize  service delivery other than religious or political affiliations.

‘’Much as we have excess power which we cannot consume, of course we have some disturbances within the supply. I want to request that the delay in re-connection be eliminated.

Masaka City mayor Florence Namayanja asked the government  to subsidize the cost of electricity, to ensure green energy use in all the cities of Uganda.

‘’ We expect fundamental change in your services to the community please . let it not be business as usual, we want to see better service in this region as it has been indicated .We are now a city. Studies have shown that cities are the biggest contributors to pollution and climate change. I want you to come with a strategy of planting more trees in the city. I’m very passionate about the environment as a mayor, and my legacy goal is having a clean, green, liveable city, where livable means that people must get services.

Benjamin Busingye Benjamin , the UEDCL Territory manager said the office represents commitment , transformation , customer service , support and prompt resolution of electricity related issues .

‘’ Our cores are very straightforward , and very powerful . We are committed to carry out new connections , ensure reliability and that’s what this  office represents’’, said Busingye.

It should be remembered that UMEME Limited officially handed over assets and operations to Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) last month.

This handover came after completion of a 20-year concession agreement between the Government of Uganda and UMEME Limited, which began in 2005. On April 1, 2025, UEDCL, a government-owned entity assumed full responsibility for the sale and distribution of electricity at and below 33 kilovolts in accordance with licenses issued by the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA).

Furthermore, a rebranding effort accompanied this transition. The  “Yaka” name was replaced with “Light” under UEDCL.

The company immediately embarked on repairs to critical installations, increased the number of transformers and substations, and replaced aging infrastructure such as rotten and leaning poles.

The transition described as The Big Switch, emphasising that it is more than just a management change but it represents a commitment to improved service delivery in line with the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government’s 2021-2026 manifesto, UEDCL announced that with this handover, the company stepped into a new era of electricity distribution, one that prioritizes service reliability, infrastructure enhancement, and customer satisfaction.