The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
MD speaks out
However, Arinaitwe said he is not surprised with the allegations. He, for instance, said UPL operates an open contract that is subject to renewal meaning that a good employee will always be rewarded with another contract.
He said although his contract expired and is yet to be issued with another appointment or termination letter, he is still the substantive managing director for UPL by virtue of conduct.
He also denied allegations of hiring his relatives to work for the company.
“The company has a human resource department that does recruitment… and I do not participate in the exercise,” he said.
With regard to financial performance, Arinaitwe said the company has been performing well and that the Auditor General has always accorded the financial statements as a true reflection of the company operations.
However, the Auditor General’s reports for the past four years reveal that the company is not doing well as expected.
For instance, the Auditor General’s report for 2015 shows that UPL generated Shs18.98bn but incurred Shs18.45bn as expenditure during the year under review. This left the company with merely Shs528.2million as profit.
In 2016, the company recorded a Shs1bn net profit. However, in 2017, the company recorded a 540% drop in profits to Shs 4.45bn loss.
In addition, the Auditor General’s report for 2018 shows that UPL had an outstanding tax payment of Shs4.3bn. Of these, Shs1bn relates to unpaid Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Shs 3.28bn relates to unpaid value added tax (VAT).
The Auditor General, John Muwanga, noted that during the financial year under review, 21 members of staff left the organisation as a result of expiry of contracts, dismissals and transfer of services and these were not replaced, leading to staffing shortfalls within the company.
He said the high staff turnover affects company operations and achievement of company objectives as a result of man power gaps.
“I have advised management to devise a strategy of retaining staff in the company and also ensure that vacant positions are filled for efficient and effective service delivery,” Muwanga said.
Muwanga also pointed out that though the entity obtained a certificate of compliance issued by National Planning Authority confirming that its budget is aligned to the strategic plan and the NDP, UPL was instead issued with a certificate of non-compliance by the NPA due to failure to align the time horizon of the Strategic Plan (2013/2014 – 2017/2018) and the NDP II (2015/16 – 2019/20).
Furthermore, the Strategic Plan (2013-2018) expired at end of financial year 2017-2018 and had not been replaced, Muwanga said.
Arinaitwe, however, is not new to controversies. In 2013, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development wanted him out on claims that his first five-year term did not yield the expected results. He was accused of mismanagement, fraud and poor corporate governance.
Government’s view
Commenting on the fights at UPL, Bagiire said he is indeed aware of the issues and that the government plans to make pronouncements soon.
He said the ministry made its submission to the cabinet regarding constituting a new board at the UPL so as it can proceed to appoint a new managing director.
“We have also heard of recruitment of relatives in the company but a gain that is the matter that is required to be reported to the IGG for investigations,” he said.
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In Post Bus I witnessed today that we who buy a ticket outside the bus before departure, get a ticket with green ink. Passengers who buy inside the bus get a ticket with black ink, and it is larger in size. Corruption benefits a few, but hundreds are at risk of losing their job if the company collapses. Where is the monitoring by our leaders?