The government has apologised to Rwandans following power disruptions recorded in different parts of the country, saying the outages were linked to technical challenges in electricity infrastructure shared with neighbouring countries. Rwanda jointly operates several regional hydropower projects including the 80 megawatt Rusumo Hydropower Plant shared with Burundi and Tanzania, as well as the Rusizi I and Rusizi II hydropower plants, which have capacities of 30 megawatts and about 44 megawatts respectively and are jointly owned with Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The disruptions, which affected several areas on the evening of Monday, January 5, lasted for more than an hour. ALSO READ: REG probes cause of Sunday's blackout In a post shared on X on Tuesday, January 6, the State Minister for Infrastructure, Jean De Dieu Uwihanganye, said faults in regional power transmission networks directly affect Rwanda whenever problems occur outside its borders. “We apologise to Rwandans for the major electricity shortages the country has experienced in recent days,” Uwihanganye said. ALSO READ: Power outage alert for Kigali, Western Province “These challenges have increased largely due to the power transmission infrastructure that Rwanda shares with other countries. When faults occur in those systems, they also affect us.” He said the situation will not persist, noting that the government has already begun implementing measures aimed at strengthening national power networks and reducing the impact of external disruptions. ALSO READ: RURA assessing issue of power cuts “This will not remain the case. We have started measures to better protect our power infrastructure and limit these impacts,” he said, adding that although some ongoing projects may take time, they are being fast tracked. Uwihanganye said the government is committed to resolving the issue as soon as possible and will continue to update the public on progress.
