UNHAPPY ENDING: List of companies, owed by Uganda Telecom that won’t get a coin from the telco’s assets sale and transfer to UTCL According to the Auditor General’s report into the under-administration Uganda Telecom, as of 30th June 2021, the telco was indebted to the tune of UGX 668 billion in verified, yet-to-be verified and under-litigation court debts. Upon realizing the company couldn’t run as a going concern, a decision was reached to sell its assets to Uganda Telecommunication Corporation Limited (UTCL), a newly formed government-owned company. The assets were sold for UGX256,892,142,642 and USD15,643,151.25—altogether about UGX316.4 billion.

As per the insolvency law, the biggest chunk of the proceeds will go towards paying bank loans, statutory obligations, pensions arrears of former Uganda Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (UPTC) staff, administration fees and other employee related costs. Very few of private sector, creditors will be paid.  

As if this is not bad enough, of the total UGX316.4 sale price, the government (UTCL) has only paid about UGX75 billion and has so far failed the 30th of September 2022 deadline to pay the remaining UGX241.6 billion. Of the UGX75 billion paid so far, UGX13,886,681,657, inclusive of taxes has gone to the administrator, UGX1,380,319,669 to pay terminal benefits of Uganda Telecom employees who worked during the administration period and approximated UGX43 billion (USD11,650,000) to the Trade and Development Bank to pay an outstanding loan.

But who are those, that will miss out?  

Here below is a list of some of the companies, many of them private companies, who at this point, may never ever get a single coin from this unhappy ending, which has been the Uganda Telecom story!