Ms Thozama Gangi, the Managing Director Eskom Uganda, has been chosen by the Energy Generators and Distributors Association of Uganda (EGADAU) as its founding Chairperson.
EGADAU, which brings together 13 founding partner members, was launched yesterday, 2nd December 2020 by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Dr Mary Gorreti Kitutu.
The 13 players are: Umeme Limited, Bujagali Energy, Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL), Eskom Uganda Limited, Kilembe Mines, Kinyara Sugar, Jacobsen Elektro, Kalangala Infrastructure Services (KIS), West Nile Rural Electrification Company (WENRECO), Kakira Sugar, Xsabo, Berkeley Energy, Hydromaxx, Electromaxx and the Cities and Infrastructure for Growth (CIG) Uganda.
CIG Uganda is a global technical assistance programme funded by the UK Government to unlock the potential of cities and urban centres to become more productive.
EGADAU targets to eventually recruit the more than 40 energy players in the electricity sector to promote best practice and develop sector relevant technical skills.
The association’s six critical areas of intervention include: inclusive participation, professionalism, integrity, fair competition, transparency, and sustainability.
Speaking during the unveiling ceremony at Sheraton Hotel Kampala, Dr Kitutu hailed the energy sector players for coming together under one umbrella body.
“The association will bring all the players together to address some of the sector challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, energy losses and increase demand for the surplus electricity that is being generated,” she said.
Letters to My Younger Self: Robinah Siima — “Success Is Quieter, But Richer”Speaking at the launch, Thozama Gangi said that the idea to form an association was mooted in 2013.
“A working party composed of a number of generators and Umeme began work on forming the association and made good ground up to the stage of drawing up a constitution,” she said, adding that, however, due to several leadership changes in different organizations, the idea was delayed until the tail end of 2019 when the sector players once again called for the revival of EGADAU.
“Consequently, the first meeting was held on 14th February 2020 and second meeting on 14th May 2020 and a series of online meetings,” she added.
Hon. Dr Kitutu also commended the players and Umeme for improving their response time which has helped to address outages and power safety issues raised by the public.
Mr Selestino Babungi, the Managing Director Umeme commenting on the association, said the association reflects the need for joint efforts in “our operations and supporting each other.”
“Our role in this association is to supplement and complement the government’s efforts and deliver on our core roles. Energy is one of the sectors which can create so many jobs if access was fully exploited. Umeme alone directly employees more than 2,000 employees and many others indirectly. How many jobs would be created if we had 100% access?” he said.
