July 12, 2025 5:00 pm
By Timothy Wasswa Kisuule
The Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) has reaffirmed its commitment to contributing to Uganda’s economic growth by procuring its supplies and services from businesses based in the country.
“Today is about encouraging the private sector to partner with UEDCL, so I must talk about BUBU-Buy Uganda, Build Uganda. This is a philosophy that UEDCL is very intent on supporting and so for any product we use on our network, we buy it strictly from Uganda,” UEDCL Managing Director Paul Mwesigwa said during the opening ceremony of the Power and Elec Uganda 2025 expo held at UMA Multi-purpose Hall in Lugogo on Thursday, July 10, 2025.
Mr. Mwesigwa provided numerous instances of significant procurements that UEDCL has granted to Ugandan companies and plans to award in the future. “We will sign our first contract for the provision of home meters, valued at around UGX 21 billion, next week. Additionally, a 200,000-meter advertisement is running, which we estimate will cost roughly UGX 45 billion. Additionally, 1,059 transformer procurements have been put out. All of them will be provided by domestic businesses. For the supply of transformers, we currently have contracts for UGX. 17 billion,” he said.
Additionally, he disclosed that the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) had granted UEDCL special authority. “Since PPDA had a rule stating that a procurement worth more than $1 million should be open to international bidders, we had requested their accreditation. Now that PPDA has granted us accreditation approval, we may proceed directly and ring-fence a procurement for a Ugandan company, even if it exceeds USD 1 million. This is excellent.”
Mr. Mwesigwa added that UEDCL is contributing to Uganda’s economy in another significant way- by employing people. He stated that even though the organisation has 2,601 permanent staff, it plans to add another 102 people as well as to sub-contract over 950 others.
For all 3 days of the expo, UEDCL had an exhibition stall set up so that members of the public could go and share their feedback on the company’s service as well as have answered any questions they might have. Over 140 people visited the stall- from business people to students.
UEDCL was a proud sponsor of the expo along with Uganda National Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Alliance (UNREEA), Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA), NEST Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and Energy Efficiency Association of Uganda.
UEDCL’s sponsorship of, and participation at the Power and Elec Uganda 2025 expo is part of the organisation’s broader commitment to engaging with its stakeholders as much as possible.
