Dei BioPharma, a multibillion-shilling pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Kamuli District, has remained largely idle nearly a year after it was commissioned by President Museveni in November 2025 because of inadequate electricity supply.

The factory, established to manufacture pharmaceutical-grade raw materials from locally sourced agricultural produce, requires about five megawatts of electricity to operate its production machinery.

According to proprietor and Managing Director Dr Mathias Magoola, the company initially relied on generators to keep production running, but the high cost of fuel eventually made the arrangement unsustainable.

Magoola said the electricity shortage has forced the facility to suspend production despite the significant investment in the plant.

Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines

"The country spends a lot to import pharmaceutical products, but this plant is aimed at mitigating that," Magoola said, calling for support to enable the facility to resume operations.

The Kamuli factory is the first phase of a wider biotechnology investment led by Magoola, aimed at reducing Uganda's dependence on imported pharmaceutical inputs while creating a ready market for agricultural produce grown by local farmers.

The facility is designed to manufacture pharmaceutical-grade starch, glucose and maltose, which are used as excipients in the production of medicines and other pharmaceutical products.

The company says it will source its raw materials locally, including cassava, maize and potatoes.

Dei BioPharma Agricultural Officer Samuel Oenen said the facility has the capacity to process more than 500 metric tonnes of raw materials per day.

The processing capacity is expected to create a market for farmers and increase demand for cassava and other agricultural produce.

The plant is also expected to generate more than 10 by-products for use in the pharmaceutical and food industries.

Magoola described the investment as more than a manufacturing facility, saying it is intended to create an ecosystem linking biotechnology, agriculture and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Shs15 million daily fuel bill

Despite an investment of more than Shs182 billion, the Kamuli facility is currently inactive because of the electricity shortage.

The head of production, Simon Kigwana, said operating the factory on generators costs the company about Shs15 million in fuel every day.

He said the cost would be significantly lower if the plant had a reliable electricity supply.

"When we use the generator, we consume fuel worth Shs15 million, but when you compute the electricity used when we are on power, it is only Shs2 million," Kigwana said.

The high cost of generator-powered production has made it difficult for the company to sustain operations.

The inactivity at Kamuli has also affected Dei BioPharma's sister plants in Matugga, Kampala, which were expected to use the pharmaceutical-grade starch, glucose and maltose produced at the Kamuli facility.

Magoola said the interruption in production at Kamuli has disrupted the wider pharmaceutical manufacturing chain.

"Our Matugga plants cannot work without all the products we produce here in Kamuli. We cannot produce vaccines; we cannot produce drugs with glucose, maltose and others which are produced here," he said.

The company says restoring reliable electricity to the Kamuli plant is therefore critical not only to its own operations but also to the wider pharmaceutical manufacturing activities linked to the investment.

The electricity challenge has attracted the intervention of Energy and Mineral Development Minister Dr Monica Musenero, who visited the facility alongside officials from the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL).

During the visit, Musenero directed UEDCL to install a dedicated power line to the factory within two weeks to enable the company to resume production.

Musenero said industrialists would be given attention because of their contribution to Uganda's industrialisation agenda and job creation.

She, however, said some investors fail to adequately plan for electricity requirements before establishing industrial facilities.

"For the last three months I have been Minister for Energy, I have encountered many issues regarding industrialists' lack of enough power to run their machines. But it comes because many don't plan with the Ministry of Energy and don't put into consideration what it takes to extend high-voltage power lines," Musenero said.

She said adequate electricity planning should be considered before factories are established to avoid production disruptions.

Paul Ssempira, Head of Commercial Operations for UEDCL's North East Region, said the existing Kamuli power line has sufficient capacity to supply the factory once the necessary infrastructure is installed.

He said UEDCL had already secured a contractor to undertake the work.

"We have enough power, but our conductors couldn't handle the high voltage. We have already got the contractor, so the two-week grace period we have given ourselves is achievable," Ssempira said.

The planned extension of the dedicated power line is expected to address the factory's immediate electricity needs and pave the way for the resumption of production.