Red Cross In 26bn Debt Hole


The Uganda Red Cross is selling off its prime properties around the country to recover from a 26billion financial hole caused by years of mismanagement by previous bosses.

Allegations of plunder, fraud and outright theft have been flying around forcing the charity organization to dismiss its management team a few years ago. And now the extent of the financial rot has been exposed and new management is selling off URCS properties to raise money to pay off debtors.

URCS has sold off its HQ on Lumumba Avenue in the city as well as several motor vehicles and other assets. This way they have managed to pay off 16bn leaving a debt burden of 10bn.

URCS chairman Joseph Emilmot was quoted in the media saying they have also put their warehouse in Ntinda on the market with a hammer down price of Shs10bn but added that they were receiving less valuation for the property.

Emilmot told URCS council that after taking office, they instituted a forensic audit and found the financials of the organization is a mess with past managers not bothering to remit workers PAYE, NSSF or pay appropriate tax.

Emilmot said: ‘Suppliers were not paid, NSSF contributions were not remitted and there is no evidence that PAYE was paid to URA, all this was not done for over five years.’

Most of the mismanagement was found to have happened during the reign of Richard Nataka who was once arrested smuggling into the country construction materials disguised as URCS supplies.

Nataka was also accused of opening private bank accounts and duping donors to URCS to deposit money into the private bank accounts for himself and his friends.

Nataka is currently charged with several counts of embezzlement, abuse of office, fraud and tax evasion at the Anti Corruption court.

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