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Sembule loses factory
A section of the factory in Nalukolongo, a Kampala suburb. PHOTO BY Abubakar Lubowa.
What you need to know:
Sembula Steel Mills Limited was early this year auctioned over failure to pay debts.
Kampala
Sembule Group of Companies has lost its Shs27b factory in Nalukolongo which it has been struggling to recover from court brokers over unpaid debts.
Mr Stephen Sembuya, the company’s chief executive officer, told Daily Monitor Sembule had lost both equipment and the factory to city businessman Frank Nekusa.
Mr Nekusa bought the factory from bailiffs at Shs5b and paid off other outstanding debts.
“It was taken after bailiffs auctioned it this year but the chairman, Mr Christopher Sembuya, is negotiating with the businessman,” he said on phone yesterday.
When Daily Monitor visited the factory in Nalukolongo at the weekend, the name had been changed to S & F Steel Rolling Mills and when contacted, Mr Stephen Sembuya confirmed the company had been taken over early this year.
Sembule Group had in the 90s become a household name and was the first company owned by Ugandans to manufacture steel products, including wire mesh and nails.
The group also started a bank Sembule Investment Bank, an insurance firm - Pan World Insurance and a television and radio assembling plant. It had also in the late 90s ventured into manufacturing energy saving bulbs.
The troubles
The company’s troubles started in 1997 when it acquired a loan from PTA Bank to expand its banking experience but the bank [Sembule Investment Bank] was run down by poor management, according to Bank of Uganda, and was eventually placed under liquidation.
Mr Stephen Sembuya also told Daily Monitor several requests for a bailout out from government had not yielded positive results.
In an interview early this year, Mr Christopher Sembuya said President Museveni had made the factory a case study for visiting heads of state and delegations in the 90s.
