Minister Anite fires Bemanya
What you need to know:
- Attorney General was also unavailable for comments on when he would rush to court to apply for appointment of a new administrator for the embattled telecom company.
Kampala. The State minister for Investment, Ms Evelyn Anite, has sacked Mr Twebaze Bemanya as the administrator of the Uganda Telecom Limited.
In a letter dated June 26, addressed to the Attorney General, Ms Anite directed him to get immediate replacement for Mr Bemanya, saying all the concerned parties have lost confidence in the administrator and therefore can no longer work with him.
“Reference is made to the letter of the Hon Minister of Planning & Economic Development to you dated 20 June regarding Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL)... In effect, a decision has been taken to remove Mr Bemanya Twebaze, official receiver as the current administrator and to immediately replace him with an individual that we will indicate.
The purpose of this letter is to request you to urgently apply to Court to replace the current administrator within the context of Section 172 of the Insolvency Act, 2011, and the Insolvency Regulations (161 (1)),” the letter reads in part.
Section 172 of the Insolvency Act, 2011, says: “The office of provisional administrator or administrator shall become vacant where the person holding office is removed from office under section 174(3) or section 206 or where the provisional administrator or administrator resigns, dies or becomes unqualified to act as an insolvency practitioner under section 204(2).”
While Section 174(3) states: “Where an order is made under subsection (1) (c), the court may make such order as is appropriate for the preservation of the company’s property, including an order requiring the removed provisional administrator or administrator to make available any accounts, records or other information necessary for that purpose.”
Ms Anite said she is ready to swear an affidavit to support the court application to ensure that the process moves ahead.
“I will be pleased to swear an Affidavit to support the Application where the supporting reasons will be elaborated.
I implore you to have the petition filed without any delay to ensure that the Administration of the Company progresses without any issue. I will appreciate your prompt response,” she concluded.
Ms Anite said government has had difficulties in working with Mr Bemanya for a period of time and therefore could not continue anymore.
“Whereas government is the only shareholder with absolute powers to take decisions on behalf of the Company in accordance with Insolvency Act and Regulations, and also the biggest creditor of UTL with more than Shs207 billion, we have encountered considerable difficulty dealing with the Administrator and have completely lost confidence in his ability to continue serving the role of UTL administrator,” she said.
Our repeated calls and message to Mr Bemanya went unanswered.
But during a press briefing on Friday last week, Mr Bemanya ruled out any possibility of relinquishing his position as the administrator, saying: “We are on a mission to make sure this country is free from corruption. Resign for what? Resign for saving this company from paying over Shs410b dubiously?”
Attorney General was also unavailable for comments on when he would rush to court to apply for appointment of a new administrator for the embattled telecom company.
