The Energy Utility Corporation Ltd (EUCL) has been burdened by high liabilities that far exceed its assets; an issue that the Members of the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said threatens the performance of the public body. EUCL is a subsidiary of the Rwanda Energy Group (REG) and it is charged with distribution of electricity to end users. During PAC hearings on Thursday, September 9, MPs based their argument on the Auditor General’s report of the State Finances for the financial year 2019-2020 which was concluded on June 2020. The report indicated that EUCL had over Rwf60.4 billion in liabilities, compared to the over Rwf44.6 billion held in assets. “What causes the situation where this entity’s liabilities are more than its assets, and how can it improve performance to get rid of the situation? If the status quo remains, it will even end up in liquidation,” said MP Christine Bakundufite. Commenting on the issue, EUCL Chief Finance Officer, John Baptiste Nshuti reassured the MPs that the company’s asset base from which it generates money is huge, and that it will enable it to discharge the liabilities in question. “The liability has been reducing as we improve in performance,” he said, indicating that, this [concluded] year [2020-2021], the company registered Rwf5 billion profit. He said that, in previous years, the entity faced an issue of not paying back on time because it was challenged with electricity tariffs that were not in tandem with the investment made in generating electricity. But, in 2020-2021, thanks to the EUCL’s implementation of ‘good’ electricity tariffs that were set in partnership with the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA), and controlling its costs, it managed to make such the profit. MP Jeanne d’Arc Uwimanimpaye said that though EUCL is happy with the electricity tariffs – which increased compared to before – they are not good for consumers who have to pay more. “I think the best way would be to reduce cost along the entire energy supply chain,” she said. Meanwhile, the EUCL faced quizzing by MPs on over Rwf1 billion worth of electricity that was ‘stolen’ by consumers in the financial year under review as indicated the Auditor General’s report. EUCL Managing Director, Armand Zingiro replied that so far, 70 percent of the money has been recovered. MPs wanted to know the plan ahead to recover the remaining amount. To this, Zingiro said that they have been engaging competent organs including the Rwanda Investigation Bureau on the issue so that the people in questions are held responsible and pay the due amount as well as penalties, adding that some of them have agreed to pay for the electricity in installments. EUCL said that one of the means to tackle electricity theft is the installation of smart meters.
