Arua Regional Referral Hospital boosted with solar power system
Speaker Among pledged two years ago to donate a solar system to the health facility following a petition to her office due to deaths registered due to frequent power outages.
Contractor Leku (right) shakes the hand of the hospital administrator Ben Andama (left) during the reception of the panels at the hospital. (Photo by Robert Adiga)
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ARUA - In a bid to address the power challenges faced by Arua Regional Referral Hospital, Speaker of Parliament Anita Among has fulfilled her solar power system pledge to the health facility.
Speaker Among pledged two years ago to donate a solar system to the health facility following a petition to her office due to deaths registered due to frequent power outages.
In fulfilment of the pledge, the system was delivered on Sunday, October 26, 2025, after Arua Central Member of Parliament Jackson Lee Atima reportedly followed up on the promise.
At the time of the pledge, the mothers at Arua Regional Referral Hospital were delivering using phone torches, candles, among others, as the region was not yet connected to the national grid.
The donated equipment includes 14 solar panels equivalent to 8.2 MW,16 inverters and 16 solar batteries worth shillings 90 million.
MP Leku, whose company won the installation of the solar power system, inspected the items delivered. (Credit: Robert Adiga)
According to the contractor Joel Leku, the executive director of Global Solar Systems Ltd, the donated solar will save the hospital 196kWh of energy per day, translating to shillings 2.6 million per month.
He says the technical personnel at the hospital will be fully trained on the operations after the installation of the solar system, since it will be the main source of power in the selected units.
“The solar power system we have brought will be able to work independently. When it is shining, it will be able to transfer Direct Current (DC) from the sunlight directly to Alternating Current (AC). So, during the day, you will be able to use a direct system from the sunlight at the same time, it will be charging the batteries,” Leku explained.
“The system is going to be the primary source of power; it is going to be the system offering power to all those units where they are going to be installed,” Leku added.
While receiving the solar systems on behalf of the hospital, senior hospital administrator Ben Andama commended Speaker Among for fulfilling the pledge.
Andama said the donation will be a relief for the hospital facility that is receiving about shillings 50 million per quarter for electricity bills.
"We deliver 620 babies per month. So, when you get there, some mothers are sleeping under the bed. We are very happy with the Speaker for donating the solar power system, which is going to help these mothers. We also request her office to lobby for us a complex maternity ward, which will help in addressing the challenge of lack of space for these mothers,” Andama appealed.
Yasin Drate Jafer, a resident of Arua city central division, who represented Jackson Atima, thanked the Speaker for the solar power systems, saying the donation is going to help residents of the West Nile region, those from eastern DR Congo and South Sudan, including the refugee community that seeks health services at the referral hospital.