DEI BioPharma: Accountability and Uganda’s Pharma Ambition

Analysis

Uganda can pursue local medicine production while demanding clear answers about DEI BioPharma’s public funding, ownership and disputed debt. The national ambition and the merits of one investment must each be judged on evidence.

The proposed sale of properties linked to the DEI companies has brought Uganda’s pharmaceutical ambitions back under scrutiny. Taxpayers deserve to know what the government acquired, what the Matugga facility can produce and how its investment is protected.

On 10 November 2026, Speaker Jacob Oboth gave Parliament’s Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation two weeks to investigate and report. Parliament’s official account records questions about asset ownership and safeguards, alongside minister David Bahati’s assurance that due diligence had been undertaken. His assurance is a position for the inquiry to test against documents.

The inquiry matters beyond the immediate bank dispute. Supporting domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing is a legitimate development objective. It does not establish that every company, financing arrangement or request for further support represents value for money.

What the public funding records show

The Auditor General’s December 2024 report, section 1.11, records government support of Shs723.4 billion. Its breakdown is:

The largest allocation was intended for debt obligations and operational requirements. The audit reported that it had not been given a valuation report establishing the company’s net worth or a shareholder agreement, and that government had yet to receive share certificates. These findings describe the position at that audit; they do not prove that the documents remain unavailable today.

In its 6 October 2026 account of a committee assessment, Parliament reported a government stake of 9.4 per cent, while saying proof of the shareholding had not been presented during the assessment. The practical questions are the rights attached to that stake, the basis of its valuation and the protection it offers taxpayers.

Parliament’s account of the subsequent debate also records Monica Musenero saying she had documents confirming government’s shares and would engage the Attorney General over the relevant records. That statement should be followed through to documentary verification.

Why local pharmaceutical production still matters

The Ministry of Health’s Annual Pharmaceutical Services Performance Report for 2023/24, section 3.7.1, puts imported products at 50 per cent of the combined pharmaceutical and medical supplies market by volume. Locally manufactured pharmaceuticals accounted for 22 per cent and locally manufactured medical devices for 13 per cent, with other local product categories making up the remainder.

The denominator and date matter. These are not estimates of the value of medicine imports, nor a measurement of the market in 2026. They nevertheless show why policymakers are concerned about reliance on external supply.

Reliable domestic production could reduce exposure to some shipping and supply disruptions, support technical skills and broaden industrial capacity. Those benefits depend on quality, affordability and dependable output. Local manufacturers may still rely on imported ingredients, equipment and expertise, so production at home does not remove every external vulnerability.

Certification, output and ambition are different measures

The National Drug Authority’s register of GMP-compliant facilities lists DEI BioPharma under certificate 048/GMP/2025 for non-beta-lactam tablets and hard gelatin capsules, with validity to 10 December 2027.

That entry concerns specified manufacturing categories. It should not be read as approval of every proposed production line, registration of every medicine, or evidence that vaccine production is operational.

Parliament’s 6 October account says the company produced and distributed generic medicines in 2024/25. It refers to six medicines but names only five: paracetamol, tramadol, metformin, doxycycline and metronidazole. It also reports operation below envisaged capacity, with specialised lines still undergoing installation, validation and commissioning.

This points to some progress alongside unfinished work. A credible assessment now requires verified production volumes, registered products, sales, costs and completion milestones. Installed equipment and projected capacity are different from sustained commercial output.

There is also a competition question. In the 7 October debate, reported by Parliament the following day, Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa warned that taxpayer-supported production of established generics could disadvantage Ugandan manufacturers operating without equivalent support. He argued for attention to new and strategic products. Industrial policy should strengthen domestic capacity across the sector and explain the additional public benefit a subsidy buys.

What is established about the Equity Bank dispute?

Monitor’s reporting on the competing public notices identifies a 5 November notice by auctioneers Jald offering DEI-linked properties for sale. It reports that DEI’s lawyers oppose the sale, while lawyers for Equity Bank Uganda and Equity Bank Kenya maintain that it can proceed and that no court order stops it. These are competing legal positions, not judicial findings about the proposed sale.

The court record provides important context. In Dei Industries International Ltd and Others v Equity Bank Uganda Limited and Another, [2026] UGCommC 362, Justice Susan Abinyo dismissed DEI’s challenge to the auditor nomination process on 29 July 2026. The ruling records that Clayton & Company’s report, dated 28 June 2025, had been submitted to court. Allegations that the independence of the nominating body, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU), had been compromised were not proved.

That decision did not finally establish every disputed loan entry or the amount presently recoverable. Equally, the existence of litigation does not by itself establish that an advertised sale is unlawful.

DEI BioPharma Limited and Dei Industries International Limited are distinct companies. Their commercial association does not establish ownership of a particular property or the scope of a lender’s security. Those questions require title records, mortgage instruments, company documents and applicable court orders. An advertisement alone is not evidence that an auction has been completed or that the government’s entire investment has been lost.

What a credible public-interest response requires

The parliamentary inquiry should produce answers that can be checked:

• Ownership and valuation: the executed investment documents, government’s shareholder rights and an independently supported valuation.
• Assets and debt: ownership of the advertised properties, the security granted and the exposure of the publicly supported investment.
• Operational performance: actual production, regulatory status, sales and the cost of completing unfinished capacity.
• Future support: a viable business plan, competition safeguards, measurable milestones and conditions for any further public funding.

These tests allow scrutiny of the financing arrangement while assessing the industrial assets on their actual merits. They also protect other manufacturers and taxpayers from an assumption that strategic importance automatically justifies another allocation.

Uganda’s pharmaceutical ambitions should be judged by safe medicines, sustainable production and demonstrable public returns. One company’s dispute should not settle the case for a whole industry. But protecting that ambition requires accountability for this investment, including the possibility that independent evidence may justify changes to its financing, governance or ownership.

Source note: This analysis draws on the official audit, parliamentary accounts, Ministry of Health report, NDA register and court ruling linked above. Reporting on the November auction notices is attributed to Monitor. It does not establish the present debt balance, current title ownership or a completed sale. Sources checked on 12 November 2026.