Switched on

Under a 20-year lease agreement, Umeme had distributed and sold around 95% of all electricity used in Uganda, reaching around 2.3 million of the country’s 48 million population. When that lease ended in March 2025 amid complaints about unreliable connectivity and high prices, the government decided that its own agency – then managing about 5% of distribution in mainly rural areas – was best placed to expand the national network and improve value for customers.

Gruelling challenge

It was a massive undertaking. The absorption of thousands of new staff – headcount has increased from around 500 to 3,000, while the finance department has grown from nine to 40 – while simultaneously managing the delivery of power for millions of additional households has been a gruelling experience. ‘I was talking with some bankers the other day about what we have achieved,’ Kiwanuka says. ‘I admitted I am proud, but I don’t think I would do it again.’

With regulators determined to set more affordable tariffs for customers, Kiwanuka’s first task was to understand the full financial implications of these. ‘We had to sit down, understand the tariff structure, how the approved tariff would impact the organisation’s financial performance, and then develop a multi-year budget,’ she says.

Kiwanuka also had to oversee and streamline the process of collection of customer payments, feeding back to the board and regulators. A reconciliation team works on the issue daily to ensure accurate reporting. Currently, collections stand at 102% (figures include forward payments) and, since takeover, UEDCL has grown the customer base by approximately 640,000.

Most of Uganda’s energy is generated by hydroelectric power stations based on the River Nile, then transported through a multi-stage process to the end consumer. It is part of Kiwanuka’s role to manage payments under agreements with the electricity transmission company, which demands careful relationship management.

Kiwanuka is confident that the transition should be embedded by the end of the year. ‘It is massive in nature,’ she says. ‘We are still not fully out of transition but we are at least stabilising.’

The experience placed Kiwanuka and her team under the spotlight, not just from senior management but the public, too. ‘Customer expectations remain high,’ she says. ‘They are aware you’re going through transition, but they don’t want interruption in their service.’

Ready to lead

Kiwanuka’s career trajectory demonstrates that she was more than ready for the challenge. Across two decades, she has built a CV that takes in both the not-for-profit and commercial sectors, beginning at ActionAid Uganda, an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty.

Later on, she had her first taste of leadership at Uganda Clays, where she stepped up from her role as head of finance to become acting managing director at the producer of roof and floor tiles just as the pandemic struck. She took on her current role with UEDCL in 2022.

Finance DNA

With an accountant for a father, it’s no surprise that Kiwanuka would take a finance route. ‘In my subconscious I think it was always the path I would follow,’ she says.

Likewise, ACCA has been at her side throughout her career. She gained the qualification in 2004 and everything unfolded from there. ‘It is the foundation of everything I have achieved; I don’t think I would be anywhere without it,’ she says.

She views her experience as acting MD at Uganda Clays, following the departure of several senior colleagues during the pandemic, as an essential part of her development. ‘It was extremely challenging – mentally and emotionally,’ she recalls. ‘Firstly, it was an abrupt decision which took everyone by surprise, so I had no time to adjust or process it well, but immediately had to work with a new interim management team. Then the country went under lockdown, which was an unprecedented scenario where you did not have an assured point of reference to guide you on how to handle such an environment.’

Crucial to dealing with change of any sort, Kiwanuka says, is to be prepared. ‘It’s important to fully understand the type of change, when you are aware change is imminent. At the start of UEDCL’s transformation, we sat down as a team to visualise what it was going to require to get through the transition,’ she says. ‘If we hadn’t, we probably would not have succeeded. You have to get to the detail to understand what this means on day one so things don’t take you by surprise.’

Another vital skill she learned during the process was not to become burdened by the enormity of the task. ‘One of my colleagues kept saying: “Jackie, please don’t think about how big this is because you won’t move forward. Let’s break it down into manageable pieces and, when you need to, take a break.” Mentally, that is so important,’ she says.

Perhaps the biggest lessons, though, were about relationships as she integrated new members into the team. ‘As a CFO you don’t do much technically. Your job is to give people assurance that this is going to work,’ she says. ‘You check in, find out what’s happening, unblock what is blocked and move to the next person coming to you for whichever support they need.’

Sustainability focus

Once the integration is complete, the focus at UEDCL will shift to setting up a new sustainability framework. Kiwanuka will be involved in defining how each part of the business will integrate sustainability reporting and align UEDCL with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

‘We are in a global village and there is a lot of progress on sustainability,’ she says. ‘For a utility of our nature, we can’t ignore it.’

For Kiwanuka, the finance function’s role in embedding sustainability within the business illustrates perfectly how the profession is developing. ‘We’re moving away from the numbers,’ she says. ‘We’re now focusing more on strategic things like: Where is the business going? How can we do better? How can we give back and protect the communities and environments in which we operate?

‘We’re going to be the enablers of growth.’