SPECIAL REPORT: Former UEDCL Team Was Stabilising the Grid Before Abrupt Purge — Now Replaced by Ex-Umeme Executives as Loadshedding Intensifies

What the report says

Watchdog Uganda reports that Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) has come under fresh scrutiny over leadership changes and worsening power outages, even as Parliament examines the state of the grid. The article says the utility took over the national distribution network from Umeme on 1 April 2025 and that its original management team, led by Managing Director Paul Mwesigwa, recorded early gains in revenue, customer connections, demand handling and targeted network repairs during the first year of transition.

According to the report, that leadership was later removed in May 2026 after the Ministry of Energy placed Mwesigwa on leave and terminated several senior managers. UEDCL then elevated acting officials, many of whom had previously worked for Umeme. The piece says this reshuffle has raised questions about continuity, institutional knowledge and whether the utility’s progress was interrupted before longer-term upgrades could take hold.

The story comes amid parliamentary complaints about intensifying loadshedding, overloaded infrastructure, vandalism and slow use of capital meant for network improvement. MPs on the Natural Resources Committee are quoted as pressing UEDCL and sector regulators for answers on why outages remain frequent in some districts and why only part of the available funding appears to have been spent.

Watchdog Uganda frames the dispute as part of a broader debate over whether the post-Umeme transition has delivered the reliability Ugandans were promised. The report also notes that UEDCL continues to announce technical works such as transformer upgrades and feeder improvements, but says public frustration remains high as demand keeps rising faster than the grid can absorb it.