Energy Ministry Permanent Secretary Irene Batebe has confirmed that the Auditor General’s report on Umeme’s buyout amount will be released next week, just a few days to the expiry of the power distributor’s 20-year concession.
“Please note that Umeme is a going concern and till the last day of the concession, they [Umeme] could make an intervention on the network. The Auditor General is largely done but must factor all this in the final report expected by 28th, March,” Batebe told the CEO East Africa Magazine.
According to the Investopedia website, the term ‘going concern’ in accounting refers to a company that has the resources needed to continue operating indefinitely until it provides evidence to the contrary.
Alternatively, it could mean a company’s ability to make enough money to stay afloat or to avoid bankruptcy.
Ms Batebe’s revelation comes shortly after Mr Denis Oguzu Lee, the Maracha County MP expressed concern over the supplementary request for Umeme’s buyout saying a loan request for the same, is still under consideration.
“Umeme has been recovering their costs through feed-in tariffs where they add their costs. Now they are demanding money from Ugandans when their concession is about to expire, yet this matter has not been resolved to a logical conclusion,” he said.
The Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on National Economy, which is considering the loan request, Mr Robert Migadde, said the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development had not presented information required to scrutinize the loan request.
Letters to My Younger Self: Robinah Siima — “Success Is Quieter, But Richer”“The Ministry of Energy was supposed to produce a report of the Auditor General on how they arrived at the $190 million loan request, but it has not yet come back to the committee,” he said.
Mr Peter Kauju, Umeme spokesperson told the CEO East Africa Magazine that the buyout amount is work in progress.
“Government gave us an assurance that all Umeme’s money will be paid, which hasn’t been recovered at the end of the concession based on the Auditor General’s analysis of all investments that have been made,” he said.
A Wednesday statement from the Ministry of Energy noted that the current power reliability challenges adding that Umeme should continuously fulfil its contractual obligations to the end of March, while preparing UEDCL to ensure immediate corrective measures after April 1st.
This is a developing story…
