KAMPALA – The just-released December 2019 Auditor General report has revealed that two telecom companies in the country are operating illegally without licenses.
In his report to Parliament, Auditor General John Muwanga pointed out that two major telecom operators in the country have operated their telecom services without licenses for the period of one year since November 2018 to-date, which is contrary to the UCC Act.
He said, “The Commission, therefore, has not collected any licensing revenue from the two operators for the said period. Failure to renew licenses deprives the Commission of earning revenue and poses a legal risk to the operators, government and the users of the telecom services.”
The report also pointed out that funds amounting to Shs11.256Bn remained committed by the close of the year, while Shs1.418Bn remained unutilized, an indication of under absorption.
Further, the auditors discovered that UCC had not invoiced Uganda Telecom Limited for the different resources since 2015 amounting to Shs70.3 billion of which Shs38.9 billion being before UTL Ltd went into administration and Shs31.3billion post-administration). UCC management resolved to discontinue raising invoices to UTL as all invoices raised were not being honoured and yet UCC gets taxed by URA. UCC continues to render additional resources to UTL.
Shortcomings were noted in the management of procurements that include doubtful bidding process, awarding contracts above the assessed market value and award of contracts in foreign currency.
