BY ESTHER OLUKA
State Minister for Finance Henry Musasizi, is today expected to return before parliament’s finance committee to throw more light on the govt’s Shs 200bn Roko shares deal.
He was yesterday asked to return today to provide more clarity on the MPs’ concerns.
Appearing before the committee, Musazi defended government’s proposal to acquire 150,000 Preference Shares worth Shs202 billion in Roko Construction Limited on the day it emerged the deal was ordered by the President.
Musasizi, revealed the President’s directive in a letter dated October 19, 2019 that he tabled yesterday before Parliament’s Finance Committee.
The President thereafter directed that the government negotiates with Roko Construction Limited, with a view of acquiring equity in the company and that all the required legal procedures should be followed.
He also told legislators in the Committee that Roko had been faced with severe liquidity challenges that have constrained its ability to execute contracted projects and has adversely affected payments to its various suppliers and the financial sector.
Also, according to the junior Minister, the Uganda National Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors (UNABCEC) estimates that the government would incur an additional Shs120 billion in placing these contracts with new contractors, if the company was dissolved.
However, the Committee chairperson Keefa Kiwanuka and other members including shadow finance minister Muwanga Kivumbi and Jane Pacuto raised a number of concerns that he is required to give clarity on today.
