By Spy Uganda
The State Minister of Finance in charge of General Duties, Hon. Henry Musasizi, has tabled a government proposal to acquire shares in Roko Construction Limited.
The minister says government intends to purchase 150,000 preference shares in Roko worth Shs202.13 billion which will be paid for over a period of five years.
According to the minister’s motion that was tabled during the Thursday, 07 July 2022 plenary sitting, the proposal to acquire shares in the construction firm is “intended to support the company with the necessary liquidity to meet its operational needs and other obligations.”
Musasizi laid the proposal on the floor of Parliament along with the clearance report from the Attorney General.
The Speaker, Anita Among, directed the Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development to scrutinise the motion and present the report for consideration in a period of one week.
Section 23 of the Public Finance Management Act 2015 as amended, provides that a vote cannot enter into a transaction or agreement that binds government to a financial commitment for more than one financial year, except where the financial commitment is authorised by Parliament.
In 2020, more than 26 companies sought a court order to wind up Roko Construction Company for allegedly failing to pay huge debts in accordance with Section 3 of the Insolvency Act.
Roko is a local construction and civil engineering company founded in 1969 by the late Max Rohrer and Rainer Kohler, natives of German and Switzerland, respectively.
Over the years, the company has executed a number of huge construction projects in the country such as Workers House, which belongs to the National Social Security Fund, dfcu building, Mestil Hotel, Namugongo Shrine and the Uganda Cancer Institute among others but as we speak, its on verge of collapse.
