Members of Parliament have renewed strong calls for the reinstatement of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), arguing that electricity rollout in rural Uganda has slowed significantly since its dissolution in August 2022.
In a heated debate in Parliament on Thursday, April 16, 2026, chaired by Speaker Anita Annet Among, highlighted a Shs300 billion funding gap for clearing outstanding obligations from the former agency.
The Natural Resources Committee, through Chairperson Hon. Herbert Edmund Ariko, presented a report revealing that government requested Shs300 billion to settle arrears and land acquisition costs for ongoing projects, but only about half has been provided so far.“If your requirement is to clear two gardens and you are given one, after a year you should show what you have harvested.
The issue is not just funding,” Ariko told the House. Napak District Woman MP Faith Nakut sharply criticised the Ministry of Energy, accusing officials of overstating progress in underserved regions such as Karamoja. “The minister is deceiving that during the time of Rural Electrification Agency Karamoja did not have power and that in his tenure he has delivered electricity.
That is not true,” she said.Kilak South MP Gilbert Olanya backed the push for reinstatement, arguing that REA had previously restored public confidence in government service delivery. “When the rural electrification programme started, it touched the hearts of the population. People would always ask when electricity would reach them. Can the ministry do the work REA was doing?” Olanya asked.
Speaker Among acknowledged that while the agency had faced management challenges, electricity access had been more visible during its operations. “At the time of Rural Electrification Agency, we did not have these complaints. The complaints were about management, but power was reaching people,” she said.
State Minister for Energy Hon. Sidronius Opolot Okaasai pushed back against calls to revive REA, warning that such a move would slow down ongoing reforms.“By the time of Rural Electrification Agency, Karamoja, Gulu and West Nile did not have electricity.
To say power was everywhere is not true. What we require as a ministry is funding,” he said. He cautioned that reinstating the agency could reverse current gains: “I can assure you, going back to Rural Electrification Agency would mean another five years without distributing electricity.”
Under REA, rural electrification efforts gained visible momentum, with targeted grid extensions, connections to district headquarters, schools, health centres and communities across many regions, building public excitement and trust. Since the agency’s dissolution in 2022 and integration into the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, MPs and communities report noticeable slowdowns in new rural connections and project implementation, particularly in hard-to-reach areas.
National electricity access has risen gradually from around 47% in 2022 to about 51.5% in 2023 (with rural access remaining significantly lower, often estimated in the low 20s to 30s percent depending on on-grid vs off-grid definitions), but the pace of on-grid rural rollout has lagged behind earlier targets and expectations. The Shs300 billion unfunded obligations for former REA projects underscore the implementation gaps, even as the minister highlighted the need for Shs4 trillion overall to achieve broader electrification goals.
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