Entebbe Airport Buyer To Pay 1(one) DOLLAR
A scanned document of the CAA Debtors
- CAA Grinding To A Halt Over Debts
Entebbe-gate scandal has taken a new twist after it emerged last night that the investor widely expected to take over the airport is paying ONE DOLLAR for the multi billion shilling facility as was the case with the defunct Uganda Dairy Corporation.In 2007, the government of Uganda leased Uganda Dairy Corporation to a Thai Investor at a nominal fee of 1US$.
We have exclusively confirmed that like Uganda Dairy Corporation which was given out at 1$ because of heavy indebtedness, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) which runs Entebbe Airport has suffered the same fate.The Authority, according to a report we have obtained, has been fleeced and is owed by government and ENHAS, the company owned by the powerful foreign affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa to the tune of Shs72bn.
The documents indicate Government institutions owe the Authority Shs68bn while Kutesa’s debt stands at Shs2bn. Because of this CAA is failing to modernise the airport. The report has been taken to President Museveni who has directed a technical team that was set up to study the proposal to expeditiously work to dispose of the airport. CAA has a CHOGM debt of Shs72bn which it is now finding difficult to service at Shs2bn per month.
The Dodsal Group that is going to win the lease however is only paying one dollar because of this hopeless CAA is in.Sunday Pepper, a sister paper of The Red Pepper, broke the story three weeks ago that Government was selling off Entebbe International Airport to a private investor.The paper reported that officials from Dodsal Group, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) based consortium met with President Museveni over the matter.
Museveni was understood to have given a nod to the sale with a view of improving the standards. The buyer is also expected to build a tax free shopping zone similar to what you have at Dubai airport. Because of the proposed tax free shopping complex, the new owner will acquire the huge swathe of land near the airport. Part of this land belongs to the Veterinary Institute and all the government land stretching to Kigungu Island. He will acquire the new and old terminals, all the buildings and storage facilities and parking thereon. Dodsal, we can reveal, is signing an agreement with the Ugandan government to buy, own and operate the airport for 49 years.
In technical terms, such an agreement is classified as BOT (Buy, Operate and Transfer back to the owner after the expiry of the lease.According to the Memorandum of Understanding reached between the government of Uganda and Dodsal Group, it was agreed the group will spend US$1m (roughly Shs2bn) on a feasibility study for an integrated infrastructure development plan of Entebbe Airport Free Trade Zone and Export Processing Zone Complex. “Dodsal Expects to spend about US Dollar 1m on such feasibility study with no risk, cost and liability to the government of Uganda,” the memorandum signed on August 4th 2008 reads in part. The former minister of state for Investments, Semakula Kiwanuka signed on behalf of Uganda government while Rajen A Kilachand signed on behalf of the Dodsal Group.
