Gertrude Asianduru lost her first child because of a power outage.
It was on a rainy night in May 2023, when Asianduru was rushed by her family to Obongi Health Centre IV after she began feeling a sharp pain in her belly.
Five hours later, Asianduru had not yet given birth, and so doctors advised that she needed to undergo a caesarian operation but there was no sight of electricity: the health facility had no fuel in the generator to light up the emergency theatre.
“It was raining at night and there was no power stored in the solar batteries,” Asianduru, a resident of Palorinya in Obongi district, narrates.
“We waited for close to five hours until the staff came with the fuel when the operation was done. Nurses tried to save our lives when they brought fuel but this was late. My baby had already died in my womb. I was in deep pain. I can never forget this incident in my life.”
Dr. Martin Ole, the in-charge of Obongi Health Centre IV, says the maternal and prenatal deaths at the health facility are high, mainly due to the persistent power outage. The facility, he revealed, registers between 3 and 4 deaths per month.
“Nurses and midwives deliver babies using torches in case the standby generator runs out of fuel,” he says adding that the solar equipment is also old and faulty.
Isolated grid, limping services
For years, Obongi district has been in the dark. In 2003, the West Nile Rural Electrification Company (WENRECo), a private company, rolled out an electricity connection project in the 12 districts of West Nile through a private-public partnership, however, Obongi was never connected. The last electricity transmission stops at Okubani, a trading centre at the Obongi border, which is three kilometers away from Yumbe district.
From the time West Nile Region became part of Uganda under the British protectorate in 1914, now celebrating 110 years, Obongi still lives in darkness.
According to a report on Access to electricity, there is an increase in access to electricity at 57.2% in the urban areas of Uganda but remains as low as 10% in rural areas. Uganda currently has approximately 3,385 km of transmission lines, and the government plans to extend this to 4,354 km by 2025.
Endless promises
Over the years, several pledges for improving power connections in Obongi have been made to the locals. In August this year, while launching the Nebbi power substation, the Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Ruth Nankabirwa, said: “I know there will be more questions following, especially the connection of Obongi.”
“I pledge that we are taking the next step to connect the people of Obongi. I appreciate the push for the connection to the grid and we want the power pulled to the last mile person.”
Then last year in April 2023 President Museveni assured the people of Obongi district during the launch of the 32Kv power station in Arua district that there would be full connectivity to the national grid.
But critics remain sceptical. At Obongi district headquarters, for instance, solar is used to run almost everything at the administrative facility –from running electrical appliances and charging telephones to doing secretarial work.
“We are the only district in Uganda where electricity has not reached. There are so many things that need electricity,”
“In offices, there is no power, in health centers there is no power, in schools, there is no power, and even running small factories and cottage industries has become difficult, why is the government punishing us?” he Buga Habib, the Obongi District Chairperson asked.
Ayimani Hakim, a member of a pressure group known as Black Life in Obongi, says the “denial of electricity for the people of Obongi district is not only a concern on underdevelopment but also a human right issue that should be addressed by the government.”
“We have suffered and we cannot run any business and on top of this, there are no jobs. We have a right to electricity because many people cannot do business with generators or solar. They are expensive,” he said.
More businesses are limping too. Twalib Ismail, a graphics designer, revealed that many people in Obongi are abandoning their businesses due to the high costs of purchasing fuel daily to run their workplaces.
“The cost of operations is high and the available options that we are using cannot meet our demands,” Twalib says.
Meanwhile, Ismail Gift Mansur, the LC III Chairperson of Obongi town council, observes that some fishermen rely on refrigerators to preserve their catch, especially during the rainy season when they are unable to rely on sun drying.
“You cannot do any business in Obongi town because there is no power. We are out of the night economy,” Mansur says, that many “small businesses are shutting down”
As a result, he says, many locals are getting poorer.
The grim picture
Indeed, a 2021 report by the Uganda Investment Authority highlighted that power generation, distribution and industrialization were among the 14 investment opportunities that remain untapped in Obongi district.
Meanwhile a 2021 study by the UN titled “Economic Development Assessment” indicates that an estimated 43,140 people in West Nile still grapple with poverty with 3.3% formally employed and only 11.5% involved in businesses.
The study adds that at least 8.2% were casual labourers, and 10.7% were engaged in agriculture. The majority, 50.8% of the households, depend on aid and 10.7% on other livelihood sources, including remittances from the country of origin.
Due to the costly fuel, many locals are adopting solar to run their businesses. According to the Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Solar energy in Uganda has the highest adoption rate among all renewable energy options.
But there is a hiccup. The cost of installing solar equipment is high for many locals. Some companies are giving out solar equipment on loan – with an initial deposit of as low as 700,000 Uganda shillings. But that, too, remains expensive for most Ugandans who live below the poverty line or on a dollar a day.
More power but no access
Many communities like Obongi are yet to be connected to the national grid despite Uganda having enough power.
The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) estimates Uganda’s electricity capacity at 1,402 megawatts (MW). Yet the demand for electricity is at 843 MW, leaving a surplus of 559 MW in Uganda. Adding to that, the government recently switched on its 600 MW Karuma Hydro Power Dam last week in a ceremony graced by the President, adding that it will boost Uganda’s total capacity by 44% and leave potentially over 1000 MW of excess power generation capacity.
But amid these rosy power projects, Obongi remains isolated from the national grid, and in the dark. It is not clear when the district will be connected but locals are frustrated.
“For a district to industrialize, we need power, without power how do we account for the population in terms of contribution because we don’t have significant industries that are running where people would be employed,” Obongi Chief Administrative Officer, Otim Benson Humphrey, says, adding that the district has lost many investment opportunities due to lack of stable power from electricity.
“For three consecutive financial years, we have not collected up to 40 % of the local revenue targets because businesses are not running,” he added.
This story was published with the support of the Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC) under the Energy Reporting Grant with funding from the 11th Hour Project.