Ugandans will start paying through their noses following government approval to increase power tariffs by 10 per cent.
With effect from January 1, homes and kiosk owners will pay a whooping Shs696.9 from Shs623.6 for each unit. The rate of each of the first 15 units remained unchanged at Shs150.
This increase is from Shs623.6, a rate that has itself been seen by many poor households as exploitative.
In a statement seen by TheUgandan, the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) attributed the increment to the ever weakening Uganda Shilling against the US Dollar.
Commercial consumers of power such as welders and those using water pumps will pay Shs628.1 between 6am and to 6pm.
However large consumers such as sugar industries will pay Shs383.5 up from Shs347.1 per unit during the same time.
Ugandans have lost track of the enormous tariff hikes that the country has continuously experienced ever since Umeme took over the power sector in 2005. The cost of electricity has more than quadrupled and billing problems and general incompetence in the power sector have chronically hindered growth and development of the sector.
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