Six years after it was unveiled as a pillar of Uganda’s energy future, the Isimba Hydropower Plant is still battling a toxic mix of cracks, corrosion and chronic delays—problems that refuse to go away and continue to drain public resources.
A hard-hitting report by Auditor General Edward Akol has once again dragged Isimba into the spotlight, faulting UEGCL management for slow action on critical repairs and unresolved technical risks. Akol tasked the utility to urgently implement resolutions arising from the Attorney General’s technical meetings, including immediate repairs, construction of a third spillway, and completion of a long-delayed 3D sonar bathymetry survey.
“Strengthening oversight of the EPCC contractor and closely monitoring progress on all corrective and enhancement works is essential to address the underlying structural and operational risks at Isimba,” Akol warned.
Mounting concerns over corrosion and contractor performance recently forced the Energy ministry to seek President Museveni’s intervention. The President directed Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka to guide the process, culminating in a technical meeting held on November 11.
The meeting resolved that government would proceed—without prejudice—to have the corrosion defects rectified by the contractor through a Change Order. It also agreed on a raft of urgent measures: repairing the existing spillway, constructing a third spillway, fast-tracking a root cause analysis, and accelerating a 3D sonar bathymetry survey to assess hidden structural threats.
Additional corrective works include converting the cooling water system to a closed circuit, repairing or replacing corroded emergency-gate roller wheels, and completing long-overdue SIKA works—tasks that have lingered for years as the plant’s problems deepened.
Beyond concrete defects, the crisis at Isimba mirrors wider failures across UEGCL-run plants. The Auditor General’s December 2025 report reveals that Isimba, Karuma and Nalubaale-Kiira hydropower plants are operating without functional floating boom lines—critical infrastructure meant to deflect water weeds and debris from turbine intakes and spillways.
At Karuma and Nalubaale-Kiira, previously installed boom lines were destroyed. At Isimba, the contractor, CIWE, never installed one. The result has been costly manual weed control, with UEGCL spending at least Shs386.35 million at Isimba and Nalubaale-Kiira alone.
“These inefficiencies expose the dams to safety risks, frequent breakdowns and generation losses,” Akol noted, warning that equipment damage and shutdowns ultimately disrupt electricity supply to consumers.
To deal with the water weed invasion at Karuma, the Energy ministry sought a technical mitigation proposal from contractor Sinohydro Corporation Ltd, which is still under review. In the meantime, UEGCL has turned to the Volta River Authority of Ghana—renowned for managing heavy aquatic vegetation—to develop a long-term solution.
The Auditor General urged UEGCL to fast-track both the contractor’s proposal and collaboration with Ghanaian experts to stem rising maintenance costs and protect dam safety.
The crisis is compounded by regulatory gaps. UEGCL has appealed to the Electricity Regulatory Authority for funding to install a floating boom at Nalubaale-Kiira, years after floating islands repeatedly disrupted operations. In 2023, the Energy ministry projected spending $7.247 million (Shs25.6 billion) to procure a weed harvester and floating boom—plans that remain largely unfulfilled.
Even more worrying, the Auditor General found that mandatory environmental audits required under the National Environment (Audit) Regulations, 2020, were not conducted at Isimba, Karuma, Nalubaale-Kiira and Namanve plants. Key permits—including riverbank user permits and water discharge approvals—were also missing.
“The failure to obtain the necessary permits and conduct required environmental audits may result in serious legal and operational consequences,” the report warned, citing risks of fines, penalties and possible shutdowns.
UEGCL management has said the process of securing the permits is now at an advanced stage, with some approvals already obtained. But as cracks widen, corrosion spreads and costs mount, Isimba stands as a stark warning of how delays and weak oversight can turn a flagship project into a lingering national crisis.
