The
State Minister for Investment and Privatization, Evelyn Anite has in a new
twist of events written to the Attorney General to apply to the court for
orders replacing Bemanya Twebaze (in featured photo) as the Administrator of
Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL).
In a letter dated June 26, 2019, Anite said that government has encountered
considerable difficulty dealing with the Administrator and completely lost
confidence in his ability to continue serving the role of UTL Administrator.
She says that the government which is the only shareholder has absolute
powers to take decisions on behalf of the Company in accordance with the
Insolvency Act and Regulations. Government is also the biggest creditor of UTL
with over 207 billion Shillings.
“In effect, a decision has been taken to remove Mr Bemanya Twebaze,
Official Receiver as the current Administrator and to immediately replace him
with an individual that we will indicate,” reads part of Anite’s letter in
which she requests the Attorney General to urgently apply to court to replace
the current Administrator.
The Insolvency Act provides for vacation of the office of administrator
providing that the office of the administrator shall become vacant where the
person holding office is removed from office or where the administrator
resigns, dies or becomes unqualified to act as an insolvency practitioner.
“I will be pleased to swear an Affidavit to support the Application where
the supporting reasons will be elaborated. I implore you to have the petition
filed without any delay to ensure that the Administration of the Company
progresses without any issue,” Anite adds.
The fresh woes of Uganda Telecom came to the limelight last week during a
plenary session in which a request by Aringa South MP, Alioni Yorke Odria was
made to parliament to appoint a Select Committee to inquire into government’s
failure to carry out accountability audits in UTL, saying they had been blocked
by the administrator, Bemanya Twebaze.
He was supported by Minister Anite who told parliament that the government,
which holds 31 per cent shares in UTL, had lost control over the telecom
company. She said Twebaze has reportedly blocked the Auditor General, John
Muwanga and Finance Ministry from auditing the company, saying he can only
report to the court.
Twebaze, who is the Registrar General of Uganda Registration Services Bureau
(URSB), was appointed Administrator of UTL following the exit of Ucom Limited,
a Libyan owned firm that owned 69 per cent shares in March 2017. He
entered into an Administration Deed and the shareholders ceded to him all their
powers to run the company.
Twebaze claims his powers are derived from the insolvency Laws of Uganda that
among others require him to work independently of the shareholders and put
creditors’ rights at his forefront.
In her ruling yesterday on the matter, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga said that both
parliament and the executive can’t take any unilateral decision on the
administration of Uganda Telecom Limited-UTL. Kadaga noted that a letter
received from the Administrator dated June 21, 2019, indicated that he has made
progressive reports about UTL to the shareholders.
She also cited a series of correspondences in her possession relating to the
extension of the period of administration given in a ruling by High Court Judge
Lydia Mugambe, which extended the administration period from 1 year commencing
on November 22, 2018, to November 2019.
Kadaga argued that while a Company is under administration according to
the Insolvency Act, the Deed is binding on the Company Director, Secretary,
Shareholders and all creditors in relation to claims arriving on or before the
Deed.
She said according to the law, the supervisor of the Administrator is the High
Court and that parliament cannot intervene until November 2019 when the
administration period elapses.
Efforts to get a response from Bemanya about Minister Anite’s letter were
futile as he did not respond to our calls and text message.
-URN
