West Nile Rural Electrification Company Ltd (WENRECo), the licensed power distributor for the West Nile Region has established a 24/7, Toll-free call centre to bolster its customer experience.
The State of art facility located at Ewuata Distribution Plant is the first of its kind in the Region and was launched on 3rd February 2023.
Engineer Kenneth Kigumba the WENRECo General Manager says, the implementation of the new Call Center follows the Company’s strategic objective to be the key player in the industrialization of West Nile by ensuring equal access to power by communities, businesses, and industries.
He added that the centre consists of a toll-free line number 0800380380 using state-of-the-art technology that will enable the company to receive and address complaints from its customers across West Nile districts of Arua, Nebbi, Zombo, Pakwatch, Madi Okollo, Terego, Maracha, Yumbe, Moyo and Koboko.
“It is a clear demonstration from us as the service provider in the West Nile region that we are committed to improving the service experience for the customers and we are demonstrating it here physically by putting facilities that speak the same language with what we are talking about,” said Eng. Kenneth Kigumba.
Eng. Kenneth further noted that the company is committed to continuously improving on technology and the distribution network to have business continuity and improved service delivery to their customers.
“At WENRECo, it is important that exceptional service accompanies our product offering. We have therefore intentionally made significant investments in technology specially designed with the customer in mind. However, technology alone is not enough to meet the needs of our customers. We have combined it with a team of highly trained professionals who have extensive knowledge and are committed to exceptional service aligned to best practices within the energy industry,” Kigumba added.
Arua district chairperson Alfred Okuonzi lauded WENRECO for launching the toll-free customer helpline centre and said it is going to be a major contributor to the livelihood of the people of West Nile.
“I want to thank WENRECO for again bringing us another programme of a free call line. Thank you so much for making life very easy for our people. Am sure this helpline centre will empower the people of West Nile to advocate for reliable and efficient power supply,” Mr Okuonzi said.
He added that initially, power demand in West Nile was less than 3 megawatts but WENERCO Investment in the region has boosted power demand to whopping 6.8 megawatts.
“I’m appealing to the government to make sure your efforts are reinforced in this region,” the LCV boss said.
Mr. Victor Vidal Lomori, the Deputy Speaker of Arua Central Division said the call centre will help the business community in Arua City, the private sector and everybody that uses power in the West Nile region.
“I’m sure that you have the competent people who will address issues [in the call centre], the deputy speaker said.
Caroline Uganda, a top Businesswoman in Arua City said the Centre would help to close the communication gap that has existed as far as she could remember.
WENRECo Call Centre speaks to Section 7 of the Standardized Complaints Handling Guidelines for the Electricity Supply Industry which requires licensed power distributors to allocate adequate resources to enable them to receive, handle, and process customer complaints in an efficient and timely manner.
The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), the industrial development arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). AKFED is a member of the Aga Khan Development Network.
It operates two power stations: WENRECO heavy fuel thermal plant with a capacity of 1.5 megawatts, located in Ewuata, Arua District; and the Nyagak I Power Station, a 3.5 megawatt mini-hydropower station, located in Paidha, Zombo District. These facilities are the main public electric power sources available to the West Nile sub-region.
WENRECo’s main values remain priorities aligned to equity in accessing services, the safety of consumers, and power supply reliability.
In August 2022, WENRECo also launched a payment option on Airtel Money to allow customers in West Nile to make their electricity bills payment at affordable rates.