Paul Tentena,
At least 2000 employees of Roko Construction Limited will become jobless if the company winds up its operations in Uganda due to inadequate capitalisation.
The construction company that was established in Uganda in 1969, is in die need of capitalisation with hope that the Uganda government’s expected liquidity injection will ensure a five year cash flow progress.
It’s hoped that, if the government goes ahead to buy the anticipated 150,000 shares in the company, cash flow will jump 12-fold over five years from Ush1.02billion in 2022 to Ush122.9billion in 2027.
Roko, as it’s popularly known and the ministry of finance on behalf of the Government of Uganda, are set to enter into a share subscription agreement, where Roko, is prepared to sell and government accepts to purchase 150,000 shares in the company.
Though, this is all subject to a number of approvals including the Parliament, the Attorney General among others.
Currently, Roko Construction Limited has a pipeline of contracts worth Ush1,204billion equivalent of works that it’s negotiating with prospective clients in the oil and gas sector, tourism and government infrastructure projects.
This means that without adequate capitalisation and liquidity, the company could lose out on the contracts yet the Government can easily recoup it’s money with profits from the shares bought.
Different shades of opinions however, are strongly against the recapitalization move saying the Government should instead capitalize the Uganda People’s Defense Forces’ Engineering Brigade rather than investing in a struggling private company benched on wishes and promises.
The company says, oil and the pipeline project will enable them expand further and create many new employment opportunities for Ugandans.
Some of the big projects that have been accomplished by Roko Construction Limited in Uganda is the Mapeera House, Rwenzori Towers, Workers House, Crested Towers, DFCU Towers, Imperial Mall in Entebbe, Mestil Hotel among many others.
