KAMPALA — The Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) faces a potential multi-billion-shilling payout after its former managing director, Paul Mwesigwa, demanded heavy compensation for alleged constructive and wrongful dismissal. The demand comes alongside separate lawsuits filed in the Industrial Court by seven other dismissed senior managers.
In a legal opinion, the Solicitor General warned that the way Mwesigwa was removed in May 2026 could hand him a victory in court—a prospect that threatens to pile fresh financial pressure on a utility already grappling with frequent power outages and ageing grid infrastructure.
In a September advisory to the Ministry of Energy, Solicitor General Perry Biribonwoha pointed out that “forced leave” does not exist in UEDCL’s human resource manual or Uganda’s employment laws.
He noted that the steps following Mwesigwa’s removal—appointing an acting managing director, publicly announcing the shake-up, conducting a handover, and barring Mwesigwa from company premises—could easily be viewed by a judge as an effective termination of his contract. While Biribonwoha dismissed several of Mwesigwa’s financial demands as “unconscionable,” he advised the ministry to negotiate a settlement rather than risk a costly court defeat.
Mwesigwa’s lawyers, Okello Oryem and Company Advocates, are demanding UGX 2.8 billion in lost earnings for the remainder of his contract, alongside payouts tied to a potential five-year renewal, notice pay, and allowances. The bulk of the claim, however, rests on UGX 15.8 billion in general damages and UGX 10 billion in aggravated damages.
Meanwhile, the seven other managers placed on leave and subsequently fired—including the former heads of engineering, internal audit, human resources, and corporate affairs—are contesting their terminations in the Industrial Court.
The disputes trace back to a sweeping leadership shake-up in early May 2026.
Then-Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa fired board chair Lydia Ochieng-Obbo and sent Mwesigwa on forced leave, citing an operational review triggered by high power losses, mounting customer complaints, and sluggish service improvements following UEDCL’s April 1, 2025 takeover of the national distribution network from Umeme.
Eng. Joselynne R. Rwakakoko Rwabwogo was named acting managing director, while several other top acting positions went to former Umeme staff.
Mwesigwa, a veteran sector accountant who worked at Umeme before taking the helm at UEDCL in 2019, maintains that he was never subjected to a formal disciplinary process.
The legal battle comes at a difficult moment for the utility, which is trying to raise roughly $994 million over five years to overhaul and expand the grid, including $107 million earmarked for urgent upgrades through December 2027. UEDCL blames ongoing blackouts on a surging customer base—now roughly 2.8 million—overloaded substations in areas like Mutundwe and Busunju, and a high rate of failing transformers and switchgear.
Parliament’s Natural Resources Committee has already taken officials to task over persistent loadshedding and the slow absorption of available funds, while local traders’ associations have demanded the acting managing director’s resignation over power disruptions hurting their businesses.
UEDCL has yet to publicly respond to the specific compensation demands. With the Solicitor General’s warning on the table, the utility and the Energy Ministry must now decide whether to settle out of court or fight the claims, even as they try to stabilize power supply and secure funding for critical grid repairs.
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