The Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, Matia Kasaija admitted that the contract signed between Government and Bujagali Electricity Company was a bad deal that forced Ugandans to pay high electricity tariffs.
The Minister made the admission while appearing before Parliament’s Ad hoc Committee investigating the motion by the Government to extend Bujagali’s tax waiver for another 5 years on top of the already 15 years the company has been enjoying.
Otuke County MP, Paul Omara informed the Minister that Uganda extended a loan worth US$90M to Bujagali yet government has class C shares that don’t come with any voting rights on the board and there is no payment for dividends.
The Minister was also informed that Bujagali has only invested US$179.8 Million and by 2015, they had redeemed all their preference shares and only retained US$10 Million in the business, yet the shareholders have earned the highest in payments of its shareholders to a tune of US$645 Million.
Minister Kasaija asked the Committee to summon the team that negotiated the Bujagali deal, saying that he wasn’t in office at the time the deal was negotiated.
