Uganda’s ambitious pharmaceutical manufacturing project, Dei Biopharma, is facing fresh financial scrutiny after a debt collection firm advertised several properties belonging to Dei Industries International Limited and associated entities for sale by public auction or private treaty over outstanding loan obligations.
The development raises serious questions about the financial position of an enterprise that has received substantial government backing, including taxpayer-funded investments running into hundreds of millions of dollars, yet now faces the prospect of losing valuable commercial and industrial properties to recover unpaid debts.
A notice published by Jald Uganda, a debt collection and auctioneering firm, indicates that properties associated with Dei Industries International Limited, Dei Natural Products International Limited and individuals linked to the business are being lined up for disposal following instructions from a financial institution.
The notice, issued under the Registration of Titles Act and Mortgage Act, gives the debtors an opportunity to clear outstanding loan balances, interest, fees and disbursements before the sale.
The properties advertised include industrial establishments, commercial buildings, residential developments and land in different parts of Kampala and Wakiso.
Shs723.4bn government investment, yet more assets face sale
The latest auction notice is particularly troubling because it comes after the Government committed a cumulative Shs723.4 billion to Dei BioPharma, a privately operated pharmaceutical manufacturing enterprise associated with businessman Dr Mathias Magoola.
According to the Auditor General’s report for the financial year ended June 2024, the Government’s investment comprised:
- Shs70 billion appropriated in the 2023/2024 financial year.
- Shs75 billion added in December 2023.
- Shs578.4 billion approved through a supplementary budget to support debt obligations and operational requirements.
The total government commitment reached Shs723.4 billion.
The Shs578.4 billion allocation was particularly significant because it was intended, among other things, to help the company settle its financial obligations and complete its manufacturing operations.
Yet the subsequent history of the company’s banking dispute raises uncomfortable questions about whether the intended debt repayments were made and how the public money was ultimately utilised.
In August 2024, court filings in which Equity Bank Uganda and Equity Bank Kenya alleged that Dei Industries International and associated companies had failed to clear outstanding loan obligations despite receiving the government funding.
The banks reportedly claimed that the companies owed Shs82.2 billion to Equity Bank Uganda and US$43.23 million to Equity Bank Kenya.
According to the reported court documents, the banks alleged that the Shs578.4 billion had been channelled through another bank rather than being used to settle the outstanding facilities as expected.
The companies disputed the loan calculations and sought an audit and reconciliation of their accounts. These were allegations made in the litigation, not a final judicial determination of the debt.
The dispute has continued into 2026.
In September 2026, the Court of Appeal stayed proceedings in the commercial dispute between Dei Industries International, Dei BioPharma, Mathias Magoola and the two Equity Bank entities pending determination of an intended appeal.
The companies had challenged the audit process being used to establish the outstanding loan balance. The court’s decision to stay proceedings did not determine the amount owed or extinguish the underlying loan obligations.
The new auction advertisement therefore comes against the background of a long-running dispute over loans used to finance the group’s business interests and pharmaceutical manufacturing project.
What exactly is being sold?
The Jald notice identifies several properties registered in the names of Dei Industries International Limited, Dei Natural Products International Limited, Mathias Magoola and other associated proprietors.
Among the advertised assets are:
1. Matugga industrial property: Approximately 20.673 acres comprising a factory establishment, registered under Kyadondo Block 82, Plots 988, 3325 and 3326.
2. Kyamuli-Kungu property: Plots 2338, 4778 and 4779, Kyadondo Block 82, registered in the names of Dei Natural Products International Limited and Mathias Magoola.
3. Luzira wheat milling plant: Multiple properties along Sixth Link Road, Luzira, including a fully integrated and operational wheat milling plant belonging to Dei Industries International Limited.
4. Muyenga-Kisugu property: Approximately 0.247 acres, comprising a residential establishment, registered in the name of Mathias Magoola.
5. Kitende property: Approximately 0.457 acres at Busiro Block 383, Plots 5641 and 5642, described as a hospital belonging to Dei Industries International Limited.
6. Seguku commercial property: Approximately 0.10 acres at Kyadondo Block 266, Plot 149, registered in the name of Rutungu Investments.
7. Katwe commercial property: Plot 491, Kibuga Block 6, registered in the name of Dei Industries International Limited.
The diversity of the properties is significant. The notice covers assets spanning pharmaceutical-related industrial establishments, food processing, healthcare, residential developments and commercial real estate.
It is not simply a notice concerning one factory. It potentially exposes a wider business portfolio to creditor recovery proceedings.
The auctioneer says the sale will take place 30 days after the advertisement, at its offices, beginning at 10am or soon thereafter. The terms of sale are cash, bank draft or RTGs.
The notice also requires occupants to vacate the properties within 14 days to enable prospective buyers to inspect the premises.
Importantly, the notice does not disclose the identity of the financial institution, the total outstanding loan balance or the reserve prices of the properties.
It also does not establish that every advertised property belongs to Dei BioPharma Limited itself. Several are registered under separate legal entities and individuals.
Auditor General questioned the Shs723.4bn investment
The financial questions surrounding Dei are not limited to unpaid bank loans.
In his December 2024 report, Auditor General Edward Akol raised serious accountability concerns over the Government’s investment in the company.
The audit found that:
- There was no valuation report establishing the company’s net worth to determine whether Government received shares equivalent to the money invested.
- The Auditor General had not been provided with the Government’s shareholder agreement.
- Government had not received the share certificates at the time of the audit.
The Auditor General warned that the failure to follow proper procedures could expose the Government to legal risks.
He recommended that the Ministry of Finance engage the Attorney General and the company to resolve the outstanding documentation.
Nearly two years later, Parliament was still raising questions.
On October 6, 2026, the Parliamentary Committee on Presidential Affairs called for stronger accountability over the Shs723.4 billion investment.
Committee chairperson Martin Mapenduzi told Parliament that Government’s shareholding, expected returns, project deliverables and measurable benefits to Ugandans needed to be properly documented.
The committee reported that Government was understood to hold a 9.4 per cent stake in Dei BioPharma, but documentary proof of the shareholding had not been presented during its assessment.
It also found that the facility was operating below its envisaged capacity.
Despite the Shs723.4 billion investment, the committee said Dei had produced and distributed only six generic medicines during the 2024/2025 financial year, while several specialised production lines remained under installation, validation and commissioning.
The committee recommended that Government consider providing another US$434 million, approximately Shs1.74 trillion, to complete and fully operationalise the facility. Parliament of Uganda+1
That recommendation has generated further controversy, particularly over whether taxpayers should commit additional money before accounting for the billions already invested.
Workers reportedly went months without salaries
Perhaps even more troubling are reports about the company’s treatment of its employees.
Earlier reports by Mulengera News alleged that Dei BioPharma workers had gone several months without receiving their salaries, with some employees reportedly struggling to meet basic household expenses.
The reports also raised concerns about unpaid employee benefits and the possibility of workers losing access to medical insurance.
Another report published in 2026 alleged that employees had gone four months without pay and staged a strike over delayed salaries.
These allegations raise a fundamental question: how can an enterprise that has received hundreds of billions of shillings in public support struggle to meet its obligations to the very employees expected to keep its operations running?
The salary claims require an official response from the company and independent verification of its payroll records. mulengeranews.com+1
Government still wants to inject more money
The contradiction is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
On one hand, the Government has already committed Shs723.4 billion to Dei BioPharma. On the other, the company is facing questions about its outstanding loans, its operational capacity, corporate governance and the documentation of the State’s shareholding.
Now, properties belonging to the wider business interests associated with the project are being advertised for sale.
And rather than first resolving the accountability questions surrounding the initial investment, Government has been asked to consider another US$434 million.
The Presidential Affairs Committee argues that completing the pharmaceutical facility would strengthen Uganda’s medicine security, reduce dependence on imported medicines and create employment.
Those are legitimate national objectives. Uganda needs a strong pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.
But the bigger question is whether the country is financing a viable industrial investment or repeatedly rescuing a private business whose financial and governance problems remain unresolved.
Taxpayers deserve to know what happened to the Shs723.4 billion, what portion went towards clearing bank debts, what remains outstanding, what assets are encumbered and whether the Government’s investment is adequately protected.
They also deserve to know why workers are reportedly going without salaries while the enterprise continues to seek additional public financing.
The Shs723.4 billion question is no longer simply about completing a pharmaceutical factory. It is about accountability, public money and whether Ugandans are getting value for one of the country’s most expensive private-sector interventions.
