Pakistani leader urges Ugandan gov’t to protect businesses
The Pakistani community in the Lango Sub-region joined other nationals to celebrate the country’s 75th Independence Day with a call to the Ugandan government to guarantee the security of their businesses.
The celebration held on August 14, 2022, at The Wash located on Kwania road in Lira City West Division, was graced by the Otuke district woman MP Susan Abeja.
The President of the Pakistani Association in the Lango Sub-region, Ateeq Nawazi said as the association and investors, they will maintain a cordial relationship with the communities in Lango and engage in corporate social responsibility activities.
Pakistan was declared a sovereign state following the end of British rule on August 14, 1947.
As part of their engagements with the local communities, Nawazi said the Pakistani community in Lango has repaired 18 boreholes in Otuke, five in Oyam, and 16 in Dokolo districts to address the shortage of clean and safe water in the community.
Calling for the protection of Pakistanis’ businesses in Uganda, Nawazi said: “I want to appeal to the government to guard us against wrong people who want to enrich themselves by taking away our resources,” he said.
Nawazi`s concern followed a report that six Pakistani investors in Lira city have been defrauded of Shs 9 billion by Agri-Exim, another investor based in Iceme Sub-county, Oyam district.
He said they supplied sunflower, soybean, simsim, and cotton to the company but have not been paid.
The investors include Dev Patel of Premukh miller [Shs 3.6bln], Farook Wakas of Farook Agro [Shs 2.3bln], Muhammed Shahid of Mian Agro [Shs 644 million], Anifa Aguti of Umaima business solution [Shs 498mln] and Basra Gurcharan of Guru Nanak [Shs 571mln].
He said though they are facing many challenges, they have sacrificed some resources to help the communities.
MP Abeja commended the Pakistani for their contributions, saying they should continue giving back to the community, stating that some areas don’t have clean water.
“People of Otuke are very happy about your contribution saying whenever you see any clean water give credit to the Pakistani association,” she said.
She said she was concerned about learning that some fraudsters defrauded the group and some of them are out of business.
“We presented this fraud of Shs 9bln to His Excellency the President when he came to Baralegi State Lodge in Otuke to meet Lango leaders and since then, we have not got any feedback,” Abeja said.
“Don`t lose hope, we shall try our level best to make sure that you recover your money and go back to business,” she promised.
Days ago, the chairperson of Lango Parliamentary Group, MP Judith Alyek asked the police to open fresh investigations over the fraud.
https://thecooperator.news/ramadan-lira-pakistani-community-donate-to-the-vulnerable/
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