Uganda's anti-corruption chief, Beti Kamya, started looking into problems at the Isimba hydropower dam. The five-year-old structure shows major defects despite costing over 2 trillion shillings. Experts worry floods might wash away the dam built on the River Nile. Kamya visited last Friday with officials from electricity companies and government offices. She said the dam looks much older than its actual age.
The dam creates 183 megawatts of power but has a damaged spillway that can't handle large floods. This safety feature should move 4,500 cubic meters of water per second, but it works at less than 40% capacity. Opening gates beyond that limit causes dangerous shaking throughout the dam. Concrete erosion keeps getting worse since the floods hit in 2022. Two divers died trying to fix underwater sections after that flooding.
Engineer Harrison Mutikanga loses sleep whenever rain falls because the spillway might fail. The Chinese construction company seems slow to make repairs. Workers fixed roof leaks during Kamya's visit, but major spillway work hasn't started. The dam had 700 defects when it opened in 2019. Kamya promised a report within three weeks about who might be responsible.
The dam creates 183 megawatts of power but has a damaged spillway that can't handle large floods. This safety feature should move 4,500 cubic meters of water per second, but it works at less than 40% capacity. Opening gates beyond that limit causes dangerous shaking throughout the dam. Concrete erosion keeps getting worse since the floods hit in 2022. Two divers died trying to fix underwater sections after that flooding.
Engineer Harrison Mutikanga loses sleep whenever rain falls because the spillway might fail. The Chinese construction company seems slow to make repairs. Workers fixed roof leaks during Kamya's visit, but major spillway work hasn't started. The dam had 700 defects when it opened in 2019. Kamya promised a report within three weeks about who might be responsible.
