NWSC boss Dr. Eng. Silver Mugisha
National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has been named the most profitable public entity despite the Corporation’s profits falling sharply due to COVID-19 disruptions.
This revelation is contained in the February 2021 Auditor General’s Report where Auditor General, John Muwanga and team analyzed performance of Government institutions.
According to the report, eight out of the 13 State Enterprises analysed made profits in 2020.
Headed by Dr. Eng. Silver Mugisha as Managing Director, NWSC made a net profit of Shs27.443bn, down from ShsShs85.700bn recorded in 2019.
The Auditor General revealed that Covid-19 pandemic affected operations of a number of entities, and Government needs to assess its impact on the critical enterprises and corporations and provide the necessary guidance and assistance.
The report comes at the time NWSC revealed it is grappling with water bill arrears to a tune of Shs23bn. Customers are yet to pay the money in question following President Museveni’s directive not to disconnect customers during the pandemic.
Muwanga’s report doesn’t contain 2020 performance for some institutions.
The reports shows that as at December 2019, Pride Micro Finance recorded profits of Shs12.788bn, down from Shs15.111bn recorded in December 2018.
Uganda Development Bank Limited profits rose to Shs10.140bn in 2019, up from Shs9.486bn in 2018.
Post Bank Uganda Limited registered Shs8.384bn profit in 2019, up from Shs3.498bn in 2018.
Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation also saw its profits grow to Shs4.220bn in 2019, from Shs1.031bn in 2018.
New Vision Printing and Publishing Company Limited also grew its profits to Shs2.661bn in 2019 from Shs2.128bn in 2018.
Nile Hotel International Limited made profits to a tune of Shs1.241bn, from Shs1.225bn in 2018 while Uganda Post Limited made profits to a tune of Shs197.193Million from Shs188.856Million in 2018.
However, some public entities are still making losses.
Mandela National Stadium registered losses amounting to Shs295.328Million in 2020, from Shs137.505Million losses recorded in 2019.
Soroti Fruits Limited managed by Uganda Development Corporation saw its losses increase from Shs6.682bn in 2020, from Shs2.321bn in 2019.
Kilembe Mines Limited continued on its loss making spree, registering losses of Shs2.807bn in 2020, from Shs2.321bn recorded in 2019.
Uganda Railways Corporation also grew its losses from Shs61.385bn in 2020, from Shs40.622bn recorded in 2019 while Uganda National Airlines Company Limited saw their losses almost quadruple to Shs102.442bn in 2020, from Shs15.339bn recorded in 2019.
Government owns shares in a number of State Enterprises, which are independently managed and are supposed to operate efficiently, make profits and pay dividends to Government making their financial performance of interest to Government.
Out of the 46 State Enterprises, 4 financial institutions, including; Pride Micro Finance, Post Bank Uganda Limited, Uganda Development Bank and The Microfinance Support Centre Ltd, were assessed for the period ending 31st December 2019 due to the fact that their financial years do not follow the Government financial year end of 30th June. In addition, 20 entities such as Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium, National Enterprise Corporation, Uganda Air Cargo Corporation, Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, Uganda Property Holding, Uganda Seeds Limited, Uganda Crane Industries Ltd, Uganda Livestock Industries, National Housing and Construction Company Limited, and Uganda Communications Commission among others, were not sampled for assessment because they had not submitted audited accounts at the time of concluding this review.
Commenting on the continued losses made by Mandela National Stadium, Kilembe Mines, Soroti Fruits Limited, Uganda Railways Corporation and Uganda National Airlines Company Limited, the Auditor General warned that these losses may affect the entities’ ability to meet future obligations or investments.
Muwanga urged the entities to develop clear strategies to improve operations and adopt efficient financial management practices to lower deductions on income and also asked Government to consider recapitalizing the most affected entities to revamp their viability.
