UTL creditors petition court over administrator’s appointment

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A section of creditors of Uganda Telecommunications Limited-UTL have petitioned court seeking orders to remove the Administrator.

The sixteen creditors led by  Asaph Nandawula state that the appointment of the official receiver as the Administrator and acting as such on a permanent basis is invalid in as far as the Insolvency Act of 2011 is concerned.

Through their lawyer John Matovu the sixteen say that they are suing on behalf of more than 1,000 others.

These also want the Court of Appeal to set aside the court’s decision of 2018 which extended UTL administration to a period of one year.

The application is supported by Nandawula’s affidavit who states that he has perused through UTL’s administration and found that in May 3rd, 2017 the company advertised in the New Vision saying it was in Administration yet there was a pending case.

Nandawula says that they demand about 300 billion shillings which has been accumulating following the 18 percent per annum interest arising from the 2013 judgment which ordered that they be paid for years since 2003.

Nandawula further contends that the Administration of UTL was initiated by a board of resolution instead of a special resolution whose administration was later extended by an ex-parte court order.

They further allege that the appointment of the official receiver as an Administrator of the company is conflict of interest and it’s against the leadership Code Act.

They are now worried that given their remuneration if the office of the Administrator, he may not be able to discharge his duties expeditiously in the interest of the creditors.

The suit comes at a time when the State Minister for Privatization Evelyn Anite demanded that the administrator Twebaze Bemanya should be replaced because he had refused to be audited.

However, on July, 3rd, 2019 President Museveni declined the call to replace Bemanya and directed that regular updates should be made concerning UTL’s Administration.

Recently, Bemanya’s contract as the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) registrar general was renewed nine months before it expires.

Court is yet to fix a date for the hearing.

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URN