Simon Group says state owns 49 pc shares in UDA

 

SIMON Group Limited (SGL) has admitted that the government owns 49 per cent shares in the Usafiri Dar es Salaam (UDA) Company and dismissed reports that it has controversially bought 7.9 million un-allotted shares.

The 7.9 million un-allotted shares were part of the total 15 million capital shares of the UDA whereby the remained about 7.1 million shares were divided among the shareholders -- the government and the SGL.

 

 Out of the 7.1 million divided shares, the SGL bought 3.62 million shares (51 per cent) whereas 3.48 million shares (49 per cent) went to the government. 

 

The company explained the above in Dar es Salaam yesterday following the confusion that emerged in the public over the ownership of the UDA. A Spokesperson for the SGL, Mr Deus Bugaywa, told journalists that the un-allotted about 7.9 million shares were yet to be divided among the government and the SGL as shareholders.

“This implies that these shares are still in the company as part of the capital belonging to both shareholders of the company. And any decision on these shares is within powers of the respective shareholders,” he said.

Treasury Registrar (TR) Lawrence Mafuru briefly told the ‘Daily News’ through mobile phone text message that the UDA has two owners, the SGL which has 51 per cent stake and the government having 49 per cent of shares, noting that there has been no changes so far.

In the just-ended Parliamentary Committees meetings, the Local Authorities Accounts Committee (LAAC) summoned top government officials to appear before the committee to explain why the SGL, whose Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is Mr Robert Kisena, became one of the shareholders in UDA.

The committee members wanted to know how the SGL acquired a stake in UDA, after the city council’s economist, Ms Sara Yohana, gave clarifications that failed to convince the lawmakers.

According to her, Simon Group acquired un-allotted shares at a contract price of 7m/-, after which he was given powers by the UDA Board of Directors to supervise the city’s public transport company as a big shareholder.

Simon Group is the company that controversially bought the city’s public transport company, UDA, through which it became the main shareholder of UDART, currently operating the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) that has revolutionalised Dar es Salaam’s congested transport system.