Court clears changes in REA

KAMPALA - The High Court has cleared the energy ministry to enforce the new establishment and management of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) instrument, which scraps the current board and the position of executive director.

The ruling effectively means the board and management structure in REA has been overhauled and the position of the executive director scrapped and replaced with that of the chief executive officer (CEO), competitively appointed by the new board.

The new CEO shall serve a term of five years and be reappointed for one more term. The CEO will be eligible for appointment if he or she is 55 years old or below on first appointment and shall cease to hold office once he or she attains the age of 60 years.

Justice Musa Ssekaana, in his ruling on Monday, said: "Courts should be slow in granting an injunction against government projects which are meant for the interest of the public at large as against the private proprietary interest or otherwise for a few individuals."

Justice Ssekaana noted that courts should take into account the wider public interest.

The ruling was made after Centre for Public Interest Law Limited, who are the applicants in the case, dragged the Attorney General to court. This was after the energy minister made and passed the Electricity (Establishment and Management of the Rural Electrification Fund) Instrument, S.I No. 62 of 2020 and repealed/revoked the Electricity (Establishment and Management of the Rural Electrification Fund) Instrument S.I. No. 75 of 2001. The applicants filed an application for judicial review, seeking to quash the S.I No. 62 of 2020 as ultra vires the Electricity Act 1999, Cap 145 and other existing laws, and for illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety.

The applicants noted that the process of making and passing the statutory instrument by the energy minister did not comply with the constitutional requirement to consult and involve people in the formulation and implementation of development plans and programmes, pursuant to Article 8A (1) of the Constitution.

In his affidavit opposing the application, Abdon Atwine, the assistant commissioner in charge of electrical supply at the ministry, said: "The minister was acting within the scope of delegated powers under Article 79(2) of the Constitution when she made the new statutory instrument."

He also noted that the Minister, under statutory instrument, reconstituted the REA board to include one person with expertise in public administration, energy or community development and one person with expertise in economics or business development. It also included a representative of the ministry responsible for electricity, a representative with expertise in finance, a person with expertise in local government, a representative of the private sector nominated for appointment by the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda and one electrical engineer nominated by the Engineers Registration Board.

"The changes to the REA board were necessary because while the permanent secretaries were required to kick-start the inaugural board, over the years, it became apparent that their busy schedules did not permit them to give sufficient dedicated time to matters of the board," Atwine stated.

The ruling effectively locks out current Executive Director Godfrey Turyahikayo from his current position which he has served since the inception of REA in 2001 but has since been scrapped off.