By Nasser Kasozi Akandwanaho
CIO Views Magazine has named National Water and Sewerage Corporation Managing Director Dr. Eng Silver Mugisha as one of Africa’s most influential corporate leaders.
CIO Views is a one-stop destination and single source of information, knowledge, and views that shape companies of the future.
Dr. Mugisha who was recently re-elected President of The African Water and Sanitation Association (AfWASA), was reorganized for making a difference in the water and sanitation sector, on the African continent.
Dr. Eng. Silver Mugisha took the helm as Managing Director of National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), Uganda, in August of 2013. At the time, he found that the Corporation’s great emphasis was on profits and not so much on service delivery or reaching the people of Uganda. He shifted its focus from profits to service delivery.
Now, 10 years later, NWSC has registered tremendous progress in service delivery to Ugandans.
Under Dr. Mugisha’s exemplary and strategic leadership, NWSC has also registered a number of growth milestones.
He says that they could achieve them because of the strong support from the Government of Uganda, development partners, resilient and committed workforce, and the utility’s esteemed customers.
Dr. Mugisha often underscores, “Utilities need to be talking about Next Practice, not Best Practice, and this can only be done through mutual collaborations.”
Dr. Mugisha, a Ph.D. degree holder, joined NWSC in 1994. He has risen to the top position through the ranks of the Corporation. His Ph.D. focused on areas of performance monitoring, incentive design, and productivity analysis, and it was carried out in collaboration with the Public Utility Research Center of the University of Florida.
In addition to serving as the Managing Director of NWSC, Dr. Mugisha is also the Chairman Governing Council of the Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE), the Chairman of the Board of Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board (UBTEB), Chairman Governing Council of Uganda Technical College Bushenyi, and a Board Member of the National Social Security Fund Board.
Top Milestones hit by NWSC under Dr. Mugisha and his management team
NWSC is the largest urban water authority in Uganda, providing potable water and sewerage services. The principal business of the Corporation, as defined in the NWSC Act Cap 317, is to operate and provide water and sewerage services in areas entrusted to it by the Government, on a commercial and financially viable basis.
The Corporation’s Strategic Focus as enshrined in its Corporate Plan 2021 – 2024 is to ensure water for all, for the social–economic transformation of Ugandans and industrialization growth, through strategic partnerships.
Dr. Mugisha says that this is in line with the overarching Government Policy Direction enshrined in the Third National Development Plan (NDP III), Vision 2040, NRM Manifesto, and Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDG 6). The Corporate Plan is further cascaded downwards into annual budgets, performance improvement programmes (PIPs), and operational plans at various levels.
In 2012, before Dr. Mugisha took over its reins as the Managing Director, NWSC provided potable water and sewerage services in 23 towns, and it served 4.5 million people. The number of customer connections was 296, 206, the number of sewer connections was 17, 653, and the water network length was 5,035 km. Dr. Mugisha also points out that in 2012, NWSC’s annual turnover was UGX 155 billion, and its assets under management were worth UGX 650 billion.
Flash forward to 2022, and NWSC reported significant progress in every area.
As per the latest performance report, the Corporation is providing its services in over 270 towns and serving 18 million people.
There were 874, 129 customer connections and 28, 007 sewer connections, and the water network length expanded to 21, 794 km
. Dr. Mugisha says that its annual turnover was UGX 519 billion in 2022, and it had UGX 4,1000 billion in assets under management.
NWSC is committed to water and sanitation for all.
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