Zimbabwean telecoms pioneer Strive Masiyiwa. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP.
By JULIUS BARIGABA
The curtain has fallen on Wavah Broadcasting Services (WBS)
television, seven months after the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) placed
it under receivership.
The industry regulator – the Uganda Communications Commission
and the Uganda Broadcasting Council – have consented to the takeover by
Zimbabwean businessman Strive Masiyiwa, ending WBS's nearly two decades
of ownership of Ugandan entrepreneur Gordon Wavamunno.
A public notice
The receiver of the TV Company, Mr Kabiito Karamagi, who had
given the broadcaster up to one year to turn it around, sent out a
public notice on Wednesday that put paid to the homegrown brand, which
was the third privately owned TV broadcasting firm to hit the air waves
in Uganda in the late 1990s.
“It had been hoped initially that the company would be revamped
through the employment of the various turnaround strategies that would
restore the company to solvency and recover all the taxes due.
“Unfortunately, this option proved unviable on account of lack
of capital to meet urgent needs necessary for the turnaround strategies.
As a result, the only option available was to sell the company’s assets
to realise the monies due,” Mr Karamagi wrote.
Other entities
Mr Karamagi, who is a lawyer and an insolvency law expert, said
that WBS required capital injection of at least $566,881 (Ush2 billion)
to turn it around.
Besides all 90 employees of the company who have been
terminated, there were other entities in the market – especially the
company’s creditors and suppliers – counting their losses following the
sale of WBS.
“As a result of this development, WBS Limited will cease to
operate as a public broadcaster on 14th December 2016 in line with the
undertakings made to the industry regulator…Therefore I regret that all
the company’s existing contracts will have to be terminated by that
date,” the receiver wrote.
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