After years of delays and controversies, Uganda has finally embarked on the construction of the 700 MW Karuma hydropower project.

Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, officiated at the ground-breaking ceremony, where he warned local professionals, who have largely been responsible for controversial “twists and turns” that have dogged the project since it was conceived six years ago, to “style up”.

“The Ugandan professionals are challenged to do a thorough and honest job,” he said, add- ing that they were responsible for delaying the project owing to “a shoddy procurement job”.

The plant, which is being constructed at a cost of $2.2-billion, is one of the high-priority projects in Uganda’s National Development Plan and is touted as the ultimate solution to the country’s persistent energy problems.

When completed in 2018, the facility will almost double Uganda’s installed capacity from the current 509 MW to 1 109 MW. It will also help connect more Ugandans to the national grid. Currently, only 5% of the country’s 30-million people have access to electricity. Demand for electricity in Uganda is increasing at an average of 10% a year.

Delays in building the plant have been caused by controversies surrounding the procurement of a contractor and failure to secure funding from development financial institutions (DFIs) that had initially com-mitted to financing the project but later pulled out owing to disagreements over the design and capacity of the plant.

Frustrated by the delays and goalpost shift- ing by DFIs, including the Germany Development Bank, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, Museveni decided to personally take charge of the project.

He managed to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping to fund the project when they met in South Africa during the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit in Durban.

In return, Uganda contracted China’s Sinahydro to build the plant, which is located some 250 km north of the capital, Kampala. The project also involves the construction of a 280 km transmission line and associated substations.

The construction contract was initially awarded to Chinese company China Water & Electric Corporation but was revoked after Italian company Salini Construttori filed an application in the Ugandan High Court, claiming irregularities in the procurement process.