MPs want audit into Amber House

Amber House Limited, the company under which the property is registered, is a limited liability company registered on January 14, 1954 with shareholders as UEB, Lint Marketing Board (LMB) and Coffee Marketing Board (CMB).

According to a report before Parliament, the shares of LMB and CMB were taken over by UEB following the divestiture of the former two in 1995.

When UEB was divested later, its shares according to a report before Parliament, were transferred to the government through Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

Flawed procurement
The parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises headed by Reagan Okumu (Aswa, FDC) was commissioned to investigate the matter.
The MPs on the committee on Wednesday said their findings “left more questions than answers.”

The MPs discovered that Amber House Limited continues to handle ownership issues of Amber House, this notwithstanding the existence of Uganda Property Holdings, a statutory body established by the government in 1998 to manage all its properties both in Uganda and abroad. AHL in 2002 appointed M/s Bageine and Company Limited as agents to manage the complex on its behalf.
MPs queried whether AHL followed procurement regulations in appointing Bageine as managers, at a 4 per cent commission from rent and packing fee collections.

The lawmakers’ report says no remittances have ever been made to the Consolidated Fund as rent generated.
“The management of Amber House Limited explained that legally the company is not under obligation to remit money to the Consolidated Fund,” the MPs’ reports quotes AHL directors headed by Mr Steven Bamwanga as saying.

According to the report, the Energy Ministry that pays Shs48 million in rent every month had shown interest in buying off Amber House and make it its permanent home but Finance ministry officials stopped the process saying the government does not own property through ministries.