Uganda’s telecommunication regulator, UCC early this month halted the sale of Majority shareholding in Orange Uganda to Africell holdings. This a sharp U -turn after the same commission okay-ed the sale in August this year. UCC’s latest move comes as no surprise. This comes after the former employees of Orange Uganda sued the company through the legal services of M/S OWEN MURANGINRA & CO Advocates to recover their benefits as stated in their appointment letters from Orange Uganda before the sale if affected. This led to the halt of the sale by the judge at the High Court of Uganda.
In a copy of the letter we received from a source at the commission, that was written on 7th October 2014 , copied to both Orange and Africell Holdings, and signed off by the Acting executive director Jonas Bantulaki the regulator wrote;
[signoff predefined=”Movie Review Signoff” icon=”icon-pencil”] TRANSFER OF LICENSE FROM ORANGE UGANDA LIMITED – MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATION NO. 475 OF 2014
Reference is made to the above subject. The Commission is in receipt of an Order of the High Court of Uganda -Civil Division in the matter of Livingstone Mukwaya and Khalid Isaac Mussige Versus Orange Uganda Limited (Misc. Application No 475 of 2014) attached hereto.
In light of this order, the Commission would like to inform you that it has halted the transfer to majority shareholdings in Orange Uganda to Africell Holding SAL.[/signoff]
This clearly means that Orange is still around as any plans to sale it off will not occur until further notice. In May this year Orange signed a memorandum of understanding with Africell Holding for the sale of its majority stake in Orange Uganda.
