Members of Parliament investigating the mismanagement of the Power sector have today heard that the Government of Uganda does not have any expert to represent it in monitoring the water levels at the Kiira Dam as it is discharged to generate power.

The power generation at the dam is managed through a concession by Eskom, a South African power firm. The company supervises its own generation depending on the water levels they discharge.

Mugisha Shillingi, the Director of Water Resource Management told the committee headed by West Budama North MP, Jacob Oboth Oboth, that there has never been any expert deployed to monitor on behalf of government the water levels to ensure the recommended quantity is discharged. The MPs were shocked by the stack revelation and said that many of them have always doubted the argument that drought is to blame for the receding water levels that have contributed to the rampant power shortage and outages.

During his testimony, Shillingi refused to divulge all the information that the Oboth committee wanted, including data of how much water is discharged by the two dams; Nalubale and Kiira. He angered the committee members when he told them he had not properly understood their letter asking him to appear before them last week.

He said he would return to appear later when he is more organized with data of water levels spanning a whole 40 years. The members said they were constrained to interview him in light of the inadequate information he had provided for them and agree they would re-summon him to testify on Thursday this week.

Shillingi said that in September this year, President Yoweri Museveni, through a letter to the Minister in charge of water, directed that 1,000 Cubic meters per second of water should be discharged by Eskom for power generation. He said that that is the same quantity that is being discharged currently but added that this could affect the water level.

He recommended that the best quantity should be 800 cubic meters per second.

Shillingi kept apologizing for many failures under him in the department, including the failure to provide monitoring and evaluation of the water levels on behalf of the country, leaving Ugandans at the mercy of a private and foreign power generator called Eskom.

Eng. Gabriel Ajedra, a member of the committee, said he was not surprised by the shocking revelation because he has never been convinced by the drought explanation for power shortages. He said he does not think that as a private business, Eskom can tell the whole truth when their interest is making profits.

Ajedra said it is possible that Eskom could release either more than what is directed or less, scenarios that are both dangerous to Uganda.