The Ministries of Finance, Planning and Economic Development MOFPED) and Energy and Minerals Development (MEMD), have appointed Mr. Kwame Ejalu Ejuku, a renowned insurance and pensions expert as the new Board Chairman of the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL)
UETCL is a government parastatal that owns and runs Uganda’s high voltage transmission network (above 33kV).
Ejalu is a Ugandan entrepreneur and businessman in the non-banking financial sector, with extensive knowledge, and experience, especially in the insurance and pensions sectors in Uganda and the East African region.
He is the Chairman and Founder of Kent Group, a diversified investment firm. He is also the Chairman of Afrisafe Risk Consultants Ltd, one of Uganda’s leading insurance brokerage firms as well as the Executive Director of Zamara Actuaries, Administrators & Consultants Uganda Limited (Formally Alexander Forbes Financial Services Uganda Ltd), the second-largest pensions scheme administrator in Uganda with funds under administration of over USD 100 Million.
Also appointed to the board, is Eng. Innocent Oboko Yotkum a registered Civil Engineer, Team Leader and Managing Director of Engineering PowerHouse Ltd, a private Civil & Structural Engineering firm as well as Achiro Sharon Loka a social scientist, currently serving as a Programme Officer at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
Also on the new board, is Mukholi Julius Wamukota, the Acting Director of Legal & Corporate Affairs, at the Uganda Free Zones Authority (UFZA). Mukholi is also the Principal Legal Officer (PLO) in the Ministry of Finance, Planning & Economic Development since December 2018.
Eng. Cecilia Nakiranda Menya, an Electrical Engineer and the Ag. Director, Energy Resources Directorate in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Development (MEMD) as well as Sylvia Muwebwa Nabatanzi, the former Chairperson, of the Equal Opportunities Commission, have also been appointed to the board.
Also on the board, George Rwabajungu, the UETCL Chief Executive Officer and Martin Erone, the Manager, Corporate Services and Ag. Company Secretary.
The inauguration of the board is slated for 8th June 2022.
The present shareholders of UETCL are the Minister of Finance Planning and Economic Development and the Minister of State for Finance in charge of Privatisation, even though the parastatal, reports to the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Development (MEMD). However, under Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 passed by Parliament this May 2022, UETCL will be 51% owned by the MEMD and 49% by the MOFPED. Therefore the new board was chosen by the two ministries.
Ejalu: A switched-on private sector leader
How Stanbic Bank CFO Ronald Makata Blends Governance, Technology and Human Leadership to Drive PerformanceEjalu’s background and leadership skills in the financial services industry as well as his private sector expertise both at the commercial and governance levels is expected to breathe some fresh air into UETCL.
Ejalu, started his financial services career at the American Express Bank, London in 1994, before moving bank home to Kampala for a brief stint as an Auditor, at the then Coopers & Lybrand, Kampala in 1995. Coopers & Lybrand then later became the present-day PricewaterhouseCoopers Uganda.
Between 1997 to April 2004, he worked as the Executive Director, Liberty Insurance Brokers Ltd, in Kampala and was in charge of Business Development, Finance & Administration.
Upon acquisition of the firm by South Africa’s Alexander Forbes, he became the Managing Director of the new Alexander Forbes Uganda, until September 2008, when he was briefly appointed the Chief Operating Officer of Alexander Forbes African Investments (Pty). Alexander Forbes Investments is one the largest insurance brokers in Africa, and ranked 8th in the whole world, with offices in 14 African countries.
In January 2009, Ejalu returned home as the Managing Director of Alexander Forbes Uganda.
In 2012, when the insurance arm of the Alexander Forbes Uganda business was acquired by America’s insurance and risk giants, Marsh McLennan, he became the Chairman and Managing Director, until 2016.
He then quit to found Afrisafe Risk Consultants Ltd, a company that he has built into one of the leading insurance brokerage firms in Uganda with key strengths in the financial, energy and FMCG sectors. He serves as its chairman.
Ejalu is also the Executive Director of Zamara Actuaries, Administrators & Consultants Uganda Limited (Formally Alexander Forbes Financial Services Uganda Ltd) where he is in charge of the company operations in Uganda. Zamara is the second-largest pensions scheme administrator in Uganda with funds under administration of over USD 100 Million. The company is also the leading private pension fund administrator in the Ugandan market.
Ejalu possesses a rich governance experience, at the board level having served dnd or presently serving a board member (Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda); Board Member and Treasurer (Association for Pension Reforms); Board Member/Treasurer (Uganda Association of Insurance Brokers); Founding Trustee (Alexander Forbes Retirement Fund); Board Chairman (Alexander Forbes Financial Services (U) Ltd) and Chairman, (Kent Holdings Ltd).
He also currently serves as the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Ghana in Uganda since December 2021.
