Stephen Ilungole
4 January 2003
Kampala — Government is likely to reconsider the original idea of selling 51% shareholding in Kinyara Sugar Works Limited (KSWL) to the public on the stock exchange, sources disclosed this week.
A Privatisation Unit (PU) source told The New Vision that "due to overwhelming technical support, Government has no choice but to go back to the original idea."
The source said though the idea of selling the Masindi-based sugar company to a core investor to ensure sustainability might have been good, the abrupt change of mind would have hurt the confidence the public have in the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), the stock operators and regulators respectively.
He said the idea would also hurt the two institutions directly since they had already approved the listing of 51% shares of the 100% government-owned company.
Finance state minister in charge of privatisation, Prof. Peter Kasenene said at the bourse end of year party in Kampala early this week, that he could not confirm nor deny the information. "In life, you must accept change if you have to survive. It can be yes or no. But we are yet to get a confirmation," he said.
The divestiture of KWSL got into controversy after government abruptly announced that it had changed its mind to sell the majority shareholding to a core investor.
Parliament argued against the idea, forcing Cabinet to form a committee to review the decision.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2003 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
