{"id":60556,"date":"2023-11-21T19:09:03","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T19:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=60556"},"modified":"2023-11-21T18:22:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T18:22:49","slug":"power-blackouts-cripple-businesses-in-eastern-uganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/power-blackouts-cripple-businesses-in-eastern-uganda","title":{"rendered":"Power blackouts cripple businesses in eastern Uganda"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>Power blackouts in the eastern region have reached alarming levels in the recent months, affecting every facet of life.<\/b><\/p>\n

For several months now, particularly in Mbale City and neighbouring districts, blackouts go on for hours and on some occasions take days, forcing businesses to rely on generators.<\/p>\n

In other cases, the outages are transient, lasting a few minutes while others are brownouts, symptomised by dimming of the lights at the place of work or at home.<\/p>\n

Last year in July, Umeme, a power distributor company, allocated about Shs12 billion towards upgrading the power infrastructure in the region to stabilise power supply.<\/p>\n

Umeme Managing Director Selestino Babungi said then during the launch of the project in Tororo Town that wooden poles would be replaced by the concrete ones in order to reduce power loss and also limit power disruptions.<\/p>\n

But one year later, the area still suffers rampant electricity blackouts.<\/p>\n

Mr James Netalisire, the director of Jimmitex Furniture and Construction Company Limited, saIS as business owners, the interruption in electricity supply has led to losses.<\/p>\n

\u201cLoad shedding negatively impacts our productivity. lt also damages our equipment, which are reliant on power supply whenever there are frequent outages,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEquipment reliant on continuous power such as machinery, computers and servers suffer damage during sudden power cuts but Umeme seems not to be aware,\u201d Mr Netalisire adds.<\/p>\n

Ms Sandra Nambozo, who runs a salon on Naboa Road in Mbale City, says she operates her business mostly on generators nowadays.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the power outages continue, I will be forced to close because it\u2019s costly to buy a litre of diesel at Shs5,000,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Mr Simon Peter Opolot, a barber, says whenever there is a power outage, he finds it hard to sustain his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf power goes, it means I have no work. My boss says it\u2019s not viable to use a generator,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Mr Ashraf Ashaba, the proprietor of Ashaba Lighting City, which deals in electrical appliances in Mbale City, says they are being forced to find alternative sources of energy to continue running their businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this means incurring additional operating costs, which is a serious pinch to us. We are choking on increased costs,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The PRESS learnt that most affected areas include, Mbale, Tororo, Busia, Butaleja, Kumi, Soroti, Kapchorwa, Katakwi, Pallisa and Iganga.<\/p>\n

Mr Christopher Rotich Simba, the managing director of Noah\u2019s Ark Hotel in Kapchorwa Municipality, says the unstable power supply has impacted the number of tourists visiting the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of our clients are tourists and they don\u2019t want to stay in darkness. When we use a generator, they complain of noise,\u201d Mr Simba says.<\/p>\n

Sebei suffers frequent power outages, especially in the sub-counties of Cheminy, Kaproron and Binyiny in Kween District and Chema, Barawa, Kapchesombe and Kisenyi in Kapchorwa District.<\/p>\n

The Umeme officials attribute the outages to rampant theft and vandalism of electricity poles in the area.<\/p>\n

State Minister for Energy Sidronius Opolot recently highlighted Mbale among those most affected by power facility vandals.<\/p>\n

Locals in Sebei and other areas, however, blame the vice on lack of supervision by the power distribution company. \u201cThe Umeme officials should do their job. Our businesses are collapsing because of lack of stable power,\u201d Mr James Chepsikor, a businessman in Kapchorwa Municipality, says.<\/p>\n

Dr Alex Nyongesa, the director Health for Life General Medical Clinic and Laboratory in Mbale City, says load shedding is responsible for maternal mortality deaths in health facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe rely on power but when there is no power, it affects some services such as surgery and oxygen,\u201dDr Nyongesa says.<\/p>\n

Mr Mubarak Nkutu, director membership at Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA), says their pleas to the government to stabilise power in the region have fallen on deaf ears.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor instance, when the industry is manufacturing plastic and power goes off, it incurs a big loss because the entire process has to be repeated,\u201d Mr Nkutu says.<\/p>\n

Mr Abdullah Magambo, the Mbale City deputy speaker, says in some areas, they go for 48 hours without power. \u201cLoad shedding is a chronic illness. It didn\u2019t start yesterday; it has been there and the citizens are used to it now,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Mr Rogers Taitika, the Elgon regional police spokesperson, says rampant power blackouts increase criminality in the area. Cases of robbery, muggings and fatal attacks, among others, are often reported in various towns in the region.<\/p>\n

Mr David Wafula, electrical engineer, says the government should change its electricity sector investment strategy in order to solve power outages.<\/p>\n

What umeme says<\/b><\/p>\n

When contacted, the Umeme communications officer, Mr Peter Kaujju, said they had been undertaking an electricity upgrade programme for Mbale City to solve the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a city status was accorded to Mbale, a lot of development came in. We had to upgrade and improve the lines so that we are able to serve the customers in that area,\u201d Mr Kaujju said, adding that the project that started about five months ago ended last week.<\/p>\n

According to him, they are currently inspecting all power lines to see if all work was done properly. \u201cFor now, we don\u2019t expect any shut down. In case anybody experiences challenges of power, it should be a localised problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Power blackouts in the eastern region have reached alarming levels in the recent months, affecting every facet of life. For several months now, particularly in Mbale City and neighbouring districts, blackouts go on for hours and on some occasions take days, forcing businesses to rely on generators. In other cases, the outages […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":60554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-60556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nPower blackouts cripple businesses in eastern Uganda - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Power blackouts in the eastern region have reached alarming levels in the recent months, affecting every facet of lif ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/power-blackouts-cripple-businesses-in-eastern-uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Power blackouts cripple businesses in eastern Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Power blackouts in the eastern region have reached alarming levels in the recent months, affecting every facet of lif ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/power-blackouts-cripple-businesses-in-eastern-uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-21T19:09:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/11\/sm_1700578310.634217.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/power-blackouts-cripple-businesses-in-eastern-uganda#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/power-blackouts-cripple-businesses-in-eastern-uganda\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Power blackouts cripple businesses in eastern Uganda\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-21T19:09:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/power-blackouts-cripple-businesses-in-eastern-uganda\"},\"wordCount\":893,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/power-blackouts-cripple-businesses-in-eastern-uganda#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/11\/sm_1700578310.634217.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/power-blackouts-cripple-businesses-in-eastern-uganda#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/power-blackouts-cripple-businesses-in-eastern-uganda\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/power-blackouts-cripple-businesses-in-eastern-uganda\",\"name\":\"Power blackouts cripple businesses in eastern Uganda - 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