industry founded 2004 headquarters kampala uganda key people patrick bitature chairman 1 selestino babungi 2 managing director services electricity revenue aftertax ugx 105.9 billion us 30.9 million 2015 3 total assets ugx 1.775 trillion 2015 4 number of employees 1 389 2015 4 website homepage umeme company limited is the largest energy distributor in uganda distributing 97 percent of all electricity in the country . 5 the shares of the stock of the company are listed on the uganda securities exchange use and are cross listed on the nairobi stock exchange nse . 6 as of june 2015 update the company s total assets were approximately ugx 1.775 trillion with shareholder s equity of approximately ugx 503.8 billion . 4 as of january 2016 umeme s customer base was about 790 000 with approximately 16 000 customers being added every month . the company expects its customer base to exceed 1 million by the end of 2016 . 7 contents 1 formation and ownership 2 management structure 3 unreliability of service 3.1 protests and rioting 3.2 recommendations by parliament 4 power losses 5 history 6 see also 7 references 8 external links formation and ownership edit umeme was formed in 2004 8 when the government of uganda sold the uganda electricity distribution company limited to a consortium belonging to globeleq 56 percent a subsidiary of the commonwealth development corporation of the united kingdom and eskom 44 percent the electric generating company of south africa . 9 the transfer of assets did not take place until 1 march 2005 . 10 during 2006 the consortium formed by globeleq and eskom was restructured with globeleq becoming the sole owner of umeme . 11 on 15 october 2012 umeme became a listed company on the use . a total of 622 378 000 shares representing approximately 38 percent of its issued share capital became listed on the ugandan bourse in an initial public offering ipo . 12 the shares of the company started trading on the use on 30 november 2012 . 13 umeme stock shares were first cross listed on the nse on 14 december 2012 with active trading commencing on 31 july 2013 . 14 the company expected to use the proceeds from the ipo estimated at ugx 171 billion to expand its power distribution network and payoff debt . 15 16 as of december 2015 update the ten largest shareholders in the stock of the company were 4 umeme stock ownership rank name of owner percentage ownership 1 umeme holdings limited 14.30 2 national social security fund 14.27 3 investec funds 10.78 4 kimberlite frontier africa naster fund 5.14 5 scb mauritius re allan gray africa rand equity fund 4.48 6 the africa emerging markets limited 4.33 7 international finance corporation 2.78 8 duet funds 2.39 9 utilico emerging markets limited 1.86 10 sbsa itf bci africa 1.64 11 others through use and nse 38.01 total 100.00 management structure edit the umeme board of directors has six members five of whom are non executive . patrick bitature one of the non executive directors serves as the chairman of the board . 17 umeme is structured into twelve management departments each headed by a senior manager . the senior managers form the executive committee whose members were the following as of march 2016 18 umeme management structure department name of manager title of officer office of the managing director selestino babungi managing director deputy managing director sam zimbe deputy managing director general manager george van der merwe general manager capital and contracts division finance marie solome nassiwa martin chief financial officer operations management florence nsubuga chief operations officer 19 corporate development david alderton corporate development manager safety phil ball chief safety officer technical office simbiso chimbina chief technical officer communications sandor lyle walusimbi head of communications customer service aidan byrne head of customer service information systems eamon furniss chief information officer internal audit josepha tibenderana ndamira head of internal audit under the executive committee umeme has 25 other managers who assist the executive to implement company policy and run the company on a daily basis . in march 2015 selestino babungi was appointed managing director replacing charles chapman who served in that role from february 2009 until march 2015 . 20 unreliability of service edit a graph showing frequent power outages in the kibuli area of kampala during the month of april 2016 . within uganda umeme is known for chronic unreliability and has been surrounded by allegations of corruption . 21 customers frequently face extended service outages 22 23 which are occasionally followed by protests riots and assaults on umeme employees . protests and rioting edit in 2010 protests erupted after a two week power blackout in the town of bugembe . attempts to disperse the protesters led to violent clashes between police and irate residents . nine were arrested with eight being charged with inciting violence staging an unlawful and violent assembly and insulting the police . 24 in 2011 a two month power outage led to protests in jinja . residents and business owners built barricades set tires ablaze and blocked traffic . police responded with tear gas and live ammunition . 25 days later over 100 people were dispersed by riot police using tear gas and rubber bullets after marching on umeme s offices in protest of recurring outages in masaka town . 26 in 2012 after a month long outage along the kampala gayaza road stone throwing protesters caused property damage and injuries . 27 in 2014 a umeme manager in mubende was beaten severely by an infuriated mob during power related protests at the kasambya trading centre . the ensuing battle between rioters and security forces resulted in 15 arrests and one other injury including a trader who was shot twice . 28 later that year kampala print and publishing shop owners went on strike blocked nasser road and burnt paper and plastic to protest six day power cuts along the road . security forces used tear gas to disperse the protesters . 29 recommendations by parliament edit in 2013 a probe committee of uganda s parliament recommended cancellation of umeme s contract due to its chronic failure to provide reliable services which would trigger a contract severance payment of at least us 148 million . 30 the following year uganda s parliament recommended that umeme s contract should be terminated due to the gross manipulations encountered in the procurement of the umeme concession and the scandalous provisions of the power distribution agreements signed between the government of uganda and umeme . 31 ultimately this course of action was decided against because it would have been too expensive and politically complicated . 32 power losses edit as of june 2015 umeme management estimated total power loss across their network at 19.2 percent . of that 13 percent is attributable to technical losses resulting from poor network configuration and 6.2 percent is from commercial losses such as power theft and under billing . umeme plans to reduce total power loss to 15 percent by 2018 . 33 history edit in may 2010 umeme s communications director charlotte kemigyisha wrote a commentary in the daily monitor newspaper urging public support for president yoweri museveni s proposal to make electricity theft a capital offense . 34 in december 2010 umeme announced plans to invest us 32 million during 2011 in new substations improvements in grid connectivity and the introduction of pre payment systems . 35 in november 2013 umeme announced that it had secured loans totaling us 190 million from the international finance corporation standard chartered bank and stanbic bank to fund grid expansion and reduce energy losses . 36 umeme is spending us 440 million between 2013 and 2018 to overhaul equipment buy technology and add distribution points . 37 in march 2016 the daily monitor newspaper reported that umeme had signed a contract with the uganda electricity transmission company limited to distribute the power generated from the isimba hydroelectric power station due online in 2018 and the karuma hydroelectric power station due online in 2020 . 38 in september 2016 a senior umeme executive said that the company planned to spend us 2 billion over the next five years to expand the grid and increase access rates from an estimated 20 percent in 2016 about 900 000 subscribers to 40 percent in 2020 about 3 million subscribers . 39 see also edit list of power stations in uganda west nile rural electrification company references edit umeme 17 february 2016 . umeme board of directors . umeme . retrieved 17 february 2016 . ladu ismail musa 16 march 2015 . umeme gets new chief executive officer . daily monitor . kampala . retrieved 16 march 2015 . busuulwa bernard 26 march 2016 . umeme profits rise to 30.9 m as shilling strengthens . the eastafrican . nairobi . retrieved 27 march 2016 . a b c d umeme 18 march 2016 . umeme statement 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february 2016 . nelson wesonga and isaac imaka 11 december 2013 . kadaga orders umeme bribery claims probe . daily monitor . kampala . retrieved 17 february 2016 . busuulwa bernard 21 october 2015 . power cuts no respite for umeme s large users . the east african . nairobi . retrieved 17 february 2016 . world bank 2014 . power outages in firms in a typical month number . washington d. c. world bank . retrieved 17 february 2016 . gulumaire andrew 19 november 2010 . 8 ugandans remanded over jinja umeme riot . daily monitor . kampala . retrieved 17 february 2016 . biryabarema elias 2 december 2016 . uganda power cuts provoke riots threaten economy . reuters.com . retrieved 17 february 2016 . kitatta kaaya