Simon Group: Powerful clique out to grab UDA

Simon Group CEO Kisena says his company presently controls close to 80 per cent stake in Uda after acquiring 3,631,000 shares from Dar City Council last year to add to its previous 7,880,303 shares

Dar es Salaam. Simon Group Ltd, which claims to have a 76 per cent stake in Dar es Salaam commuter transport company Uda, says powerful forces are out to grab the bus firm.

Group chairman and CEO Robert Kisena said yesterday that questions raised recently by the government and some MPs over the ownership of Uda were part of a wider and systematic plot to take over the company.

Addressing a news conference called by Simon Group to “set the record straight”, Mr Kisena said the company now has a 76 per cent stake in Uda after acquiring 3,631,000 shares from Dar es Salaam City Council (DCC) last year to add to  its previous 7,880,303 shares.

The acquisition is rooted in a 2011 memorandum of understanding in which DCC and the government, through the Treasury Registrar, agreed to transfer their shares to Simon Group, he said as he displayed a copy of the agreement.

Dar es Salaam Mayor Didas Masaburi told The Citizen in an exclusive interview last August that it was agreed during an extraordinary full council meeting that DCC should divest from Uda by following the laid-down procedures.  This would enable DCC  to concentrate on running the Dar Bus Rapid Transit, which is nearing completion.

“Our meeting agreed in principle to pull out of managing and  Uda by disposing of our shares in accordance with the law,” he said.

Dr Masaburi could not be reached yesterday to respond to Mr Kisena’s remarks. The Simon Group boss said the firm had not yet acquired the 3,488,651 shares owned by the government through TR, although it intended to do so.

“When the government seemed reluctant to relinquish its shares according to the 2011 MoU, we took the matter to the High Court, Commercial Division, and the case is yet to be determined,” Mr Kisena said, adding that unfettered implementation of the agreement would have given Simon Group full ownership and control of Uda.

He said there was a plot to sideline the Group after questions were raised on the legality of its claim that it is the majority shareholder in Uda.

Deputy Finance minister Adam Malima told Parliament last week that Uda was still jointly owned by DCC and the government through TR. He stated the government’s position when responding to a question by Ms Halima Mdee (Kawe-Chadema), who wanted to know who the owners of Uda were and their stakes in the company.

“Dar es Salaam City Council has 51 per cent of shares in Uda while the government has 49 per cent,” Mr Malima said. He added that when the government initially expressed its intention to sell its shares in 2006, and later in 2010, the Uda board mentioned Simon Group as a potential investor, which was ready to acquire the government’s stake and 7,880,303 unclaimed shares.

However, the deal did not materialise, Mr Malima added. But Mr Kisena maintained yesterday that Simon Group had legally acquired its stake in the firm, adding that there were covert plans to sideline it.

“The deal was aboveboard and we are ready to defend it,” Mr Kisena said.