By KT Reporter
The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development refutes claims that it was supposed to bail out the Ndere Cultural Centre from its indebtedness that now threatens its end. This is despite Uganda Development Bank confirming the government’s commitment in 2024 to settle the debt. Ndere was formed in 1984 as a cultural performance club (Ndere Troupe) and has since grown into Uganda’s top cultural tourism, conservation, and promotion centre, investing in various products with facilities in different parts of the country.
In 2019, the company acquired a 6.8 Billion Shilling loan from Uganda Development Bank (UDBL), which it has since failed to pay back, prompting the bank to put the assets up for auction unless the Ndere proprietors give a satisfactory repayment plan within seven days ending Monday, July 7. In September 2024, following a notice of auction in the earlier month, the management of Ndere Centre, led by Stephen Rwangyezi, founder and executive director, appealed to the government for a plan to rescue the cultural icon. President Museveni then wrote to the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development to have Ndere bailed out.
It was reported that a meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister resulted in a commitment to save the company by December 2024. On September 25, Ndere announced through their social media channels the “good news” that the government has agreed to purchase shares in Ndere Cultural Centre to bail it out of its 4.6 billion shillings debt, which had risen to 10.8 billion due to COVID-19 lockdown impacts and interest. Nine months later, however, UDBL announced a planned auction of the assets, saying that Ndere had failed to pay back the loan, while the Ministry of Finance denies ever giving any commitment to bail it out.
Rwangyezi could not be reached by phone, while Martin Ssempa, who led a public campaign to save the company, kept making his line busy when contacted for information. How it started. In 2019, Ndere Centre, with its home in Kigoowa in Nakawa Division, Kampala, successfully applied for a 6.8 Billion Shilling loan from UDBL at a 10 percent per year interest rate, to expand their business.
However, the loan did not materialise until mid-2020 when the first disbursement by the bank was made.
However, this came about four months after the country had already been placed under the lockdown that effectively banned entertainment activities and virtually brought tourism to a halt due to restrictions on public movement. However, the projects for which the money was borrowed, according to Ssempa, proceeded, including Obuntu Cuddle Resort in Bbira along Mutyana Road and Obuntu Tourist Lodge near Lake Mutanda in Kisoro district.
These, and the iconic Ndere Centre, are now up for auction. It is claimed that Ndere was paying 22 Million Shillings initially, but that this amount increased to 30 million due to the compounding of interest that kept increasing the principal. In August, UDB wrote to Ndere notifying it of the intention to auction its assets, and a concerted campaign saw the process suspended, after the government reportedly committed to bail it out.
In the latest later, UDBL says there is so far no progress on the reported bailout, nor any settlement plan for the debt that now stands at 10.5 billion, adding that their only option left is to proceed with the debt recovery proceedings. “Despite the September 2024 commitment, the facility remains non-performing, with no concrete timelines communicated by the Ministry regarding the expected date of settlement,” the letter reads, further asking for new timelines within which Ndere expects to settle the debt “within seven (7) calendar days” from the date of the letter-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
