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KAMPALA � A stitch in time saves nine � and
a lot of money in business transactions, as the country might soon
find out.
The
Ugandan High Commission in Britain bought a computer eight years ago
at 7,000 pounds sterling (about Shs 25.2 million at today�s exchange
rate).
However, after failing to pay for the computer and being
sued, the Commission has been ordered to pay 120,000 pounds (about
Shs 432 million), Samia Bugwe North MP, Aggrey Awori told Parliament
yesterday.
Mr
Awori told The Monitor yesterday that this was an ordinary computer
� for which even the original 7,000 pounds would seem to be on the
high side.
Awori
raised the matter during a session of the parliamentary committee on
Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
He
revealed that the High Commission struck a deal with businessman
Michael Gerson in 1996 to buy the computer and a black-and-white
printer.
Gerson gave the Commission a photocopying machine
as a good gesture, Awori said.
However, government failed to pay
the businessman, Awori said.
Gerson
then sued the High Commission for 400,000 pounds (Shs 1.4 billion)
as the value of the computer, interest, and costs of the
suit.
The
High Commission wrote to the ministry of Foreign Affairs informing
it about the impending case but got no response, Awori
said.
He
revealed that a Ugandan official at the Commission, Ms Elizabeth
Kanyogonya, sought an arbitrator on February 13, 2004 to settle the
case out-of-court.
Gerson accepted the idea of an arbitrator and
Mr Nicholas Stewart, QC, was appointed.
During
the mediation, Kanyogonya offered 95,000 pounds (Shs 342 million)
payable within three months but this was rejected.
The two
parties then agreed on the 120,000 pounds payable before April 13,
2004.
However, if government fails to pay before that date, the
penalty will rise to 350,000 pounds (Shs 1.26 billion), Awori said
yesterday.
Praising Kanyogonya yesterday, Mbarara Woman MP, Miria
Matembe, said: �She has saved a lot of money for the government; she
has done a good job.�
A
junior minister in the ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nshimye
Sebutulo, told The Monitor that government is committed to paying
its debts.
�I will
have to cross check with my permanent secretary to find out how soon
we are paying,� Mr Sebutulo said by
telephone. | 
