Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, the Minister for Information and National Guidance, has said parliamentary business is not going to be disrupted by the opposition boycotting it.

On Wednesday, the opposition MPs announced that they will never set foot in parliament again. This is because of their colleagues Allan Ssewanyana and Muhammad Ssegirinya who are currently battling murder cases in court. Apparently, until the two MPs receive a fair hearing, opposition MPs will not appear.

However, Dr. Chris said NRM has enough numbers to raise a quorum. He said this while on the NBS Frontline show. He actually says the parliament has been sitting despite this move from the opposition side.

“The opposition may walk out, but their walking out can’t filibuster the house. There are sufficient numbers in Parliament, and we have been sitting,” Baryomunsi said.

He advised opposition members saying just because they belong to that side, doesn’t mean the law doesn’t apply to them. According to him, it seems as though, they want to first see evidence before police swings into action.

“Are you saying that if there is information indicating that a person has murdered someone, they should not be arrested until there is enough evidence?” Baryomunsi asked.

Baryomunsi adds that they don’t need a boycott. He insists that opposition MPs are misguided because the two MPs will be released at the right time if ongoing investigations exonerate them.

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CiplaQCIL has registered tremendous growth amid #Covid-19 pandemic. Since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent imposing of Lockdown in the county, the company has registered growth revenue, employee safety, and insurance measures, increased production capacity at the plant (from 892 to 1008 million tablets), the launch of new product lines and widening of the export portfolio.

The last two years have presented serious business, health, and personal challenges across the world, worsened by a breakdown in the global supply chains due to COVID-19 related disruptions. It has been a period that has tested both business resilience as well as threatening to overwhelm healthcare systems in a number of countries, including Uganda.

CiplaQCIL also secured a number of product registrations in West Africa (WAHO) and Southern Africa (ZAZIBONA), which increased the regulatory footprint from 16 to 31 countries across Africa. The expansion of both product lines and geographical footprint resulted in increased sales volumes and revenue growth during the past financial year. Some of the financial highlights include revenue growth of 48 percent year-on-year, net margin improvement of 8 percent year-on-year, and cash flow improved by more than 20 percent.

“In total exports were over 400 percent higher than FY 2019-20; a clear demonstration of the Company’s success in monetizing the opportunities resulting from COVID-19. During the year the Company made its first export sales to Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Niger, Botswana and Malawi. During the year, the Company also delivered on its long-standing commitment to enter the Ugandan retail pharmaceutical market by acquiring the importation and distribution business of the Cipla range of products manufactured in India,” the company revealed.

The growth is alluded to an aggressive geographical expansion drive. We increased the registration of company products to more than 14 countries, bringing the number of country registration to 31.

 “We have also implemented cost-efficient initiatives such as replacing expensive short-term capital expenditure with a long-term loan to manage interest and save costs,” Ajay Kumar said.

“The immediate priority of the business is to make it profitable in line with the focus on sustainable and profitable growth to achieve our short- and long-term goals. Another key aim is to improve business agility and we will strongly focus on ensuring a solid governance framework,” said Ajay Kumar, incoming CEO of CiplaQCIL adding that “We will expand our portfolio and invest in new therapeutic areas such as oncology and continue to focus on efficiencies in business.”

Emmanuel Katongole, Chairman of CiplaQCIL said: “We are optimistic that the company will turn around. Our focus is to ensure that the business meets the needs of its various stakeholders particularly our customers and shareholders. We are confident that with the commitment to our strategy, mission, and vision our performance in future years will be much better”

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