City lawyers have warned the Ugandan government not to repossess Uganda Telecom Limited because this might result into a huge loss of Tax payer’s money.
Speaking to this Website City lawyer Bob Kasango opined that Uganda might be like Zambia after it was ordered to pay Libya $380m for nationalizing Zamtel.
Libyan Investment Authority owned 75 percent shares in Zamtel.
“The Shs200bn that the President has directed be converted into equity is nothing but creative accounting to shore up a non-viable entity, and we will as in the case of Zambia pay more in the long run,” said the city lawyer.
Following the collapse of the Gaddafi regime in 2011, UTL has been facing financial challenges as a result of poor management.
Uganda Revenue Authority is demanding about Shs58bn from UTL, Uganda Communications wants Shs22bn while National Social Security Fund is seeking to recover more than Shs16bn unremitted workers’ savings to the pension fund.
The Ugandan government announced that it had repossessed the telecommunications firm, after the Libyans refused to provide further funding.
This warning comes at a time when president Museveni stopped government from recovering more than Shs200bn from Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL) and instead directed that the debts to be converted into shares and sold to the public.