Umeme boss: We are not at our best
Jul 07, 2015
The managing director of Umeme, Celestino Babungi has admitted that the utility firm is yet to meet the expectations of their customers regarding service delivery.
By Billy Rwothungeyo
The managing director of Umeme, Celestino Babungi has admitted that the utility firm is yet to meet the expectations of their customers regarding service delivery.
“As a company, we know that we are not at our best when it comes to customer service. We have a strategy to continuously improve our service levels to the satisfaction of our customers,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion of Umeme handing over a cheque of dividends worth sh4,518,594,035 to its third biggest shareholder, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) on Tuesday at Workers’ House, Babungi vowed that the trend will change in the near future.
“That is the reason why we partly rolled out the prepaid metering system where we now have 40% of our customers.”
Despite reducing power losses to 21.3% in 2014, there are still numerous complaints from the public on issues such as power outages and dilapidated electricity poles as a result of inheriting an old and outdated power network, most of which was constructed in the 1960s.
When asked about the latest power tariff review due in the next few weeks, he said, “The key inputs into the tariff include our costs, generation, and transmission. At generation level, there is another mix. They draw from hydro, biogas or thermal plants. I am not privy to those inputs so I cannot forecast whether the tariff will go up or down.”
Babungi however hinted on some of the issues that will affect the retail cost of electricity.
“But I know that some of the inputs in the tariff mechanism, for instance inflation, foreign exchange and oil have not moved in our favour.”
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