A section of lawmakers has warned Government against imposing penalties on Ugandans for misuse of electricity, saying instead, Government should focus on extending electricity to more homesteads across the country.
They issued the warning during the 17th September 2025, plenary sitting, during the consideration of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Bill, 2024 that is intended to establish a legal, institutional, and regulatory framework to enhance energy efficiency and conservation in Uganda, that will entail the use of technology that requires less energy to perform the same function.
Leading the protest was Peter Okeyoh (Bukooli Island) MP who asked the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development to clarify on media reports of plans by Government to penalise Ugandans who leave their fridges over the night, saying the reports have created anxiety in communities an he wondered how Government expects Ugandans to conserve electricity yet the biggest population has no access to electricity.
Okeyoh noted, “If the burden is going to be the end user, then it should come out clearly because one of the dailies indicated that if somebody uses a fridge and leaves the fridge on, they will have to pay and it has really disturbed us, people out there have got mixed feelings about this Bill that actually, Parliament wants to pass a bill that is going to burden Ugandans as end users of electricity. So that one, I want the Minister to come out clearly and allay the fears of Ugandans. And secondly, you efficiently use and conserve what is there, take for instance the islands of Sigulu and Buvuma, what are we really going to use and conserve, we shouldn’t put the cart before the horse.”
The same sentiments were shared by Jane Pacuto (Pakwach Women MP), who questioned the logic behind penalising Ugandans for misuse of electricity they purchase using their own money.
She remarked, “When you look at this law, when it is passed and comes into force, I am wondering in most parts of Uganda, if not all, we are now pre-paying for electricity, so if I have bought my yaka and I leave my cooker or fridge on, how on earth does the energy officer come and say, no, you aren’t sufficiently using electricity. I thought it would be in a way of sensitising Ugandans that when you leave your cooker or fridge on, you are incurring actually unnecessary cost than coming up with a penalty.”
The warning followed recent media reports that indicated plans by Government to punish Ugandans that misuse electricity, prompting MPs to seek clarification from Government on such report.
During the consideration of Energy Efficiency and Conservation Bill, 2024, several MPs rejected the enactment of the Bill, describing it as redundant, and instead asked the Ministry of Energy to put more efforts in extending power to more homes and also reduce on the cost of electricity.
Patrick Isingoma (Hoima East) while rejecting the enactment of the Bill stated, “Before you talk of conserving and bringing about efficiency, prioritise the issue of bringing power for all, prioritise the issue of provision of power for all. Prioritise that first then you can proceed on the aspects of efficiency and conservation. You recall that since the disbandment of REA, it has been almost impossible for our areas to access any of the areas on the grid. It has been impossible, for the past five years, we have neem grappling with this problem.”
Gorreth Namugga (Mawokota South) accused the Ministry of Energy of mixing efficiency and conservation, yet the major problem is enforcement, saying that after failing to enforce, Government is trying to convince itself that they need another law, which explains why the MPs viewed the law as very redundant.
“From the currently concluded census and for Ssembabule, we are at 14%. So, I wonder how my young brother the Minister, how you pick attention in bringing such laws in place than concentrating on doing your basic mandate. What we are talking of is the basic, you have failed to provide for the basic, then you are moving for the hardest, you have failed to do the simplest, then you are moving to what you can’t even do. So, my friend, I do encourage you to sometime concentrate on doing what is basic. We believe that this law is very basic and wastage of taxpayers’ money in processing it.
In his criticism about the Bill, Wilfred Namugga (Ndorwa East) noted that the proposed Energy Efficiency and Conservation Bill, 2024 doesn’t even mention all forms of energy that Uganda should ordinarily have, and it is instead targeting a specific part of the energy, while ignoring other forms of energy like; wind energy, solar energy.
Niwagaba explained, “Now, if you are talking of legislating on behavioural change on the issues of energy, of course if you misuse the energy, the bills themselves will pain you, so you don’t need to legislate on this. And then you also want to legislate on technological advancement, you want to legislate on something that will come in future? With all honesty, possibly, this Bill would be work of some individuals targeting a specific product or business but I don’t think it is intended to help the country whose electricity energy is at just 22%. So, in my view, we should support the view that this is a bill that shouldn’t take Parliament’s time.”
The Erute South MP, Jonathan Odur wondered why the proposed Bill is targeting sectors like agriculture, while sectors that are the main contributors to climate change are being shielded in the Bill.
