The Impact of the Privatization of Public Enterprises in Uganda

The objective of privatization was to promote efficiency and effective administration of public enterprises. The then Uganda Commercial Bank (UCBL) Limited a state-owned financial institution with various branches across the country was one of the entities privatized. However this came with very adverse effects as many people who were directly benefiting from these enterprises became unemployed due to layoff of workers to reduce costs many branches were closed especially in rural areas leading to exclusion in service delivery especially of rural farmers who were getting micro-credit to use in farming government lost a lot of revenue in form taxes due to reduction in revenue and until today none can explain the actual benefits that were got out of privatizing these enterprises. It is unfortunate that after more than a decade now the public/government is rethinking of re-owning and re-opening the once privatized institutions due to the ever changing needs in the economy