KAMPALA — Budadiri County East Member of Parliament Hon. Julius Nakiyi has called for a fresh valuation of Dei BioPharma, questioning whether the 9.4 per cent government stake in the company fairly reflects the Shs723 billion public investment committed to the pharmaceutical manufacturer.
Nakiyi made the demand during debate on the report of the Presidential Affairs Committee, arguing that Parliament must establish the actual value of the company before accepting the reported shareholding structure as an accurate reflection of government’s investment.
According to Nakiyi, if Shs723 billion represents only 9.4 per cent of the company, the implied total equity value of Dei BioPharma would be approximately Shs7.7 trillion.
He questioned what the private shareholders contributed to justify their remaining 90.6 per cent ownership, arguing that Parliament should be presented with clear evidence demonstrating how the respective contributions were assessed when the shares were allocated.
Nakiyi raised concern that the company could have been assigned an inflated valuation, thereby allowing private shareholders to retain a substantially larger ownership stake while government invested hundreds of billions of shillings.
“The argument is these people might have overvalued their company so that they dilute the shareholding of government,” Nakiyi told Parliament.
He said the matter should therefore not be resolved simply by producing share certificates or confirming the existing ownership structure, but by determining whether the valuation used was credible and whether the public investment secured a proportionate stake in the company.
Nakiyi urged Parliament to adopt a resolution requiring an independent revaluation of Dei BioPharma so that the true value of the company and the corresponding value of government’s shareholding can be established.
He said such a process would help safeguard public resources and ensure that government receives a fair ownership interest for the money invested, stressing that Parliament has a responsibility to establish whether the Shs723 billion investment secured value for taxpayers.
