By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: Ugandan government is on the brink of a significant shutdown following a financial crisis of an outstanding debt of US$17,643,656.33 owed to Soliton Telmec since 2019.
Soliton Telmec Uganda is responsible for managing the government’s National Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) under the oversight of the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U).
Through the NBI, Soliton facilitates essential e-services for key government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), such as Immigration Department, Bank of Uganda (BoU), Uganda Revenue Authority (URA)among others. This makes Soliton Telmec a very essential ally of Government in service delivery,in that,just a day off their grid would make Government lose in trillions,not only in revenue collection but also loss of National Data. And this would put it at most risky position.
According to a letter seen by TheSpy Iganda, Hamdi Ali Muhamed, CEO of Soliton Telmec Limited is pushing for a meeting with Dr.Mugasa Hatwib, Executive Director of NITA-U, to mitigate the looming catastrophe, should Government remain adamant.
In his letter, Ali emphasized the substantial financial investment required for the operation and maintenance of the NBI, including costs incurred by various service providers.
“As you are aware, our company dedicates a lot of resources and heavily invests into operation and maintenance of the NBI. These operations are hinged on the resources provided by not only our company but also other service providers such as power suppliers, fuel suppliers and spare parts ‘suppliers” reads part of the letter.
“You are also aware that there is a substantial outstanding balance amounting to US$17,643,656.33 owed to Soliton Telmec. A part of this money is the capital reserved to cater for the operations and maintenance of the NBI,” the letter added.
Further more, Ali noted that despite persistent delays in government payments to Soliton, the company has continued to fund NBI operations, but their reserves are now depleted, posing a threat to the continuity of essential government systems.
“We note that there have been delays on the part of the government in respect to remittance of funds owed to Soliton. Even then, we have persisted in utilizing our own funds to sustain NBI operations. However, we would like to inform you that our reserves are completely drained and without funds, the NBI may be interrupted due to inability to meet various obligations.” he emphasized.
Consequently, Soliton has given the government a deadline of April 9 to settle its outstanding debt to avoid a complete shutdown of all government E-Systems. According to sources, the lack of payment over the last three quarters has exacerbated the situation.
“The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to request for an urgent meeting with your esteemed office within 7 days to address this issue to avert this impending mishap from happening,” Ali further noted.
According to sources, efforts for negotiations with Soliton are already underway to address the challenge.
