PARLIAMENT – Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has challenged company secretaries to strengthen compliance in filing of annual returns.
She noted the increase in evasion of filing of returns by companies, an act she said is unlawful.
Kadaga was speaking while opening the 8th Annual Directors and Company Secretaries Conference on 12 March 2019 at Protea Hotel, Kampala.
“I don’t know if you are aware that many companies do not file annual returns. Such acts attract sanctions yet companies that don’t file returns don’t get penalized and life goes on,” said Kadaga.
She also called on company secretaries and directors to address the high levels of bureaucracy and corruption in the public and private sectors so as to improve service delivery.
“Some people are inaccessible and are non-responsive when called upon. This causes a delay in work and disorientation of systems. It impacts on the growth of the economy,” said Kadaga.
She also noted the need for companies to promote corporate governance, saying that it is important in ensuring the stability of companies and in turn, attracts investments.
“We have been told that Uganda is the most entrepreneurial country in the world but according to the Ministry of Trade, over 90 per cent of the small and medium enterprises collapse within the first five years of existence. We need to find out why,” said Kadaga.
The Deputy Registrar General in charge of Registries at the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, Jane Okot P’bitek attributed the collapse of many companies to the absence of corporate governance.
“Corporate governance contributes to success of small and medium enterprises. When a company is governed well, it tends to register long term successes,” said Jane Okot P’bitek.
She said that the theme of the conference, ‘The future of Corporate Governance in Uganda’ aims to reinforce the importance of corporate governance and the need for companies to embrace the practice.
