Cabinet Appoints New ERA Board
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On 28th September 2020, Cabinet approved a new Board for the Electricity Regulatory Authority. In this recent appointment, Dr. Sarah Wasagali Kanaabi, who has been serving on the Board as a Member since October 2015 was elevated to Chairperson, picking up the mantle from Mr. Richard Santo Apire who completed his second and final term in office in September 2020. Dr. Kanaabi becomes the First-Ever Female Chair of the Authority.
The Cabinet also re-appointed Amb. Joan Rwabyomere and Eng. Joseph Otogo Oteng, who have served as Members of the Electricity Regulatory Authority since October 2015 and July 2014, respectively.
Further, the Cabinet appointed Two (2) New Members to the Board, namely: Eng. Erias Kiyemba, the former Managing Director of the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) and Prof. John Ddumba Ssentamu, the former Vice-Chancellor of Makerere University and current Chairman of Centenary Bank.
Dr. Sarah Wasagali Kanaabi the New ERA Board Chairperson is a seasoned Economist with varied experience in Administration, Teaching, Research, and Policy Formulation. While a Member of the Authority, she served as the Chair of the Technical Committee and a Member of the Human Resources Committee.
Amb. Rwabyomere has a wealth of experience in Politics, Management, Diplomacy, Business, and Leadership both in the Private and Public Sectors, at National, Regional and International Levels. She has successfully served on the Boards of various organizations, including the Uganda Electricity Board, Civil Aviation Authority, National Enterprise Corporation, and Women in Diplomatic Service. She was Uganda’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (2006 – 2013), and to Nigeria (2000 to 2005).
Eng. Otogo has over 20 years of experience in Engineering. He is passionate about Energy Economics, Power Markets, and Power Generation and Transmission Security. He has previously worked as Senior Technical Support Engineer, Alcatel-Lucent (2000 to 2013); Network Engineer, Fibernet UK Ltd (1999 to 2000); and Testing and Commissioning Engineer, Marconi Communications (1996 to 1998).
Prof. Ddumba Ssentamu holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Makerere University, a Masters in Economics from the University of Waterloo Ontario – Canada, and a Bachelor's in Economics from Makerere University. He brings to the Board over 38 years of experience having served as Chairman of various Boards including the Uganda Coffee Marketing Board, the Academic Board of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Centenary Bank, among others.
Eng. Kiyemba brings to the Board over 32 years of work experience in Uganda’s Electricity Supply Industry having worked with the Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) and later UETCL, upon the unbundling of the UEB in 2000. He can be credited for the celebrated infrastructural development in the Transmission Segment as the Country marks 20 years since the implementation of the Energy Sector reforms that targeted acceleration of access to electricity and improving the Sector efficiency, among others.
The New Board is expected to provide stewardship to the Electricity Regulatory Authority to effectively contribute to the National objectives of meeting the Energy needs of Uganda’s population for Social and Economic Development in an environmentally sustainable manner.