27/11/2023
I set up this business profile in November 2014 as the owners and senior Pakistani managers of Quality Plastics Uganda are the most corrupt individuals, I have ever come across in my 50 year career in plastics and need exposing so other legitimate businesses do not end up with unpaid invoices for goods and services supplied. I was engaged as Project Manager in August 2013. The reason they employed me was they needed my experience to start a new manufacturing business in P.E.T. processing and to sort out problems in their existing extrusion production factory as the senior manufacturing staff did not understand the process as like all the Indian and Pakistani managers, they have fake qualifications they buy on the black market in their home countries.
At the end of my first week of employment I went home for the weekend only to be asked on the following Monday why I didn’t attend. The reason is because I am a British citizen educated in the UK and have never worked over a weekend unless it was setting up an international exhibition stand. As an experienced manager I manage my staff so that I am not needed to watch them at weekends; not an unskilled person given a manager’s title because they are the same nationality as the company owners.
The written contract I was given stating my salary was 3K USD a month was the next day changed to 950 Ugandan shillings for me to sign as tax avoidance on employee contributions to the URA.
Each week I watched the General Manager, Shamsher Ali sort out bundles of cash to pay bribes to corrupt officials, a few being the head of the local police and the local government labour officer. The staff wanted to join a trade union, so the company employed a person to set up a fake trade union, then staff had deductions in their salary for trade union membership. NSSF deductions were never paid into the NSSF scheme, but employees didn’t find this out until they either voluntary resigned or were sacked.
I sort other employment after 6 months as the full terms and conditions of my original contract were never fulfilled. I was told that If I stayed with the company and took on the role of Chief engineer as well as project engineer my contract terms would be fulfilled and my salary would be raised another 1K USD when production of the PET started when my job title would be factory manager.
In November 2014 the word on the factory floor, put out by the Indian stores manager who had the owners confidence was that I would be replaced in the new year by an Asian on a lower salary after my expertise on the installation of the new factory equipment was not as critical to the company as the machinery manufacturers gave a 12 month warranty. The Managing Director, Amin Shamsey who made the contract offer never intended honoring any contract he made, either verbal or in writing.
In December the Asian arrived who was to be the factory manager, my future role, arrived. He proved to be another Asian with fake qualifications and on doing my own investigation of his background found he was deported from Uganda previously after working for Rwenzori water as a machine operator that they dismissed as incompetent. He was instructed to sabotage machinery that I was responsible for under my title of Chief Engineer so that I could be blamed and subsequently dismissed under gross misconduct, thereby not having to pay me the remaining term of my contract. However; to sabotage a machine so that a highly skilled engineer can’t confirm it was sabotage needs another highly qualified person to carry out the sabotage, not someone with only schoolboy knowledge.
A suit was filed in the Industrial Court due to the numerous breaches of the currently used Employment Act 2006.
Now the corruption swings into overdrive as no matter how much it would cost them in bribes, Quality Plastics did not want to lose the case.
The first hearing was scheduled by the court for both parties to attend a hearing in February 2020, It had taken 5 years to be heard by a Judge, more bribes to people in the system. The Judge, on seeing how long the case had been delayed was furious not only in that fact but because I had travelled from Europe to attend and not a sole from Quality Plastics or their lawyers attended. In the western world that is contempt of court and is punished but in Uganda it seems it is used by lawyers to increase a petitioners costs hoping the case will be dropped. The Judge ordered Quality Plastics to attend a hearing set for May 2020 but due to covid this date was cancelled and unfortunately this honest Judge died during the pandemic closure of the court.
The next hearing was scheduled for May 2021 but again although I travelled from Europe to Uganda for the hearing, no-one from Quality Plastics attended so the case couldn’t be heard. No fine was imposed for contempt of court. I allege this was because a bribe was given.
The next hearing was in September 2021, but this case was also cancelled when the Judge realized the Advocate representing Quality Plastics was not a bar member and as such was not qualified to speak in court, another delay tactic by Quality Plastics. Again, no fine imposed and again I allege the reason is a bribe was taken.
After spending over 6K USD on travelling for hearings that Quality Plastics made sure would not go ahead I insisted future hearings to be on a Zoom meeting app.
The Zoom meetings went ahead. On 25th November the Manager representing Quality Plastics was cross examined by the Hon. Judge, Linda Lillian Tumushme Mugisha who asked the following two questions. Did he consider I was a competent engineer to which the reply was, “yes I was respected as a good engineer and highly knowledgeable in my field of plastics”. The next question was, why was I dismissed, and the answer was, “the senior management felt I was being over critical of some of the unskilled contractors that they were bringing onto the site”. This was an admission to the fact I had been dismissed as an employee for no other reason than doing my job, being the only person employed with the knowledge to criticize other people calling themselves skilled contactors, which was an important part of my duties as Chief Engineer and Project Manager. My lawyer did not ask any questions after hearing this admission. The case was thought of as a forgone conclusion that the suit would be judged in my favour.
The Hon. Judge gave a date of 4th March 2022 for her Judgement. On 3rd March the Court office announced the judgement was being delayed until 29th March. On the 29th the Judge said she had not finished writing the judgement and would give a new date in due course, but no date was ever given. I allege the reason was a bribe was taken.
I travelled once again from Europe to Uganda in December and visited the Industrial Court office on 14th December 2022 and asked why my case was not receiving judgement. I was surprised to hear my name mentioned before I had even introduced myself, maybe I was the only white man that had a case being delayed deliberately, while I allege, people received bribes. I was told to return in 7 days after the Court Clerk had spoken to the Judge informing her I was around. I returned after 7 days to be told the Judge was indisposed. I put pressure on the Court office staff by attending every week until the first week of February 2023 when produced a document I had printed out of all Judgements in the Industrial Court in 2021 from the ULI (Ugandan Legal Institute) website. This showed all other cases had the judgement within six months of the final hearing and my case was still awaiting judgement after a year. No matter that I allege she was being bribed she had no choice but to list the judgement, which she did for Friday 24th February having been informed my visa was expiring and my flight was booked for 27th. On the morning of Friday 24th I met my lawyer at the court, only to be told the Judge was not attending today and my judgement will now be on Monday 27th, the day I had to leave Uganda on the nighttime flight. On the Monday my lawyer was nowhere to be seen and on contacting his office he could not be found; I believe he had been warned about the corrupt judgement that was to be announced and wanted to avoid embarrassment. when I heard the Judgement, it was obvious he had been forewarned. The Judge mentioned the questioning of the manager from Quality Plastics during cross examining him about my ability but the second question that proved I was dismissed and owed the payment of my contract of another 8 months’ salary was deliberately missed from the judgement and instead the Judge had concluded I was not an employee but working under my own company. That was a conclusion which had no evidential proof as by way of invoices between my company and Quality Plastics and was just a blatant display of her being influenced. I allege a bribe, as at no time over the 8 years of the suit did Quality Plastics ever assert I was not an employee apart from a misunderstanding in the first 6 months os employment, how could they with all the contracts given to me supplied to the court.
I decide to accept the corrupt judgement and sent Quality Plastics an invoice for the time the Judge had decided I was self employed which only amounted to 6.8K USD not the 55K they actually owe me, but they still refuse to pay the invoice.
BEWARE of doing any business with this corrupt company as you will, like others end up not being paid. If you are thinking of working for this company and are a Ugandan national be aware you will be treated as a slave, have deductions on your salary without getting the benefit and if you object you will not only be sacked but the whole Asian business community will be notified by Amin Shamsey to make sure you can never get employment in Uganda as has happened to a few employees that spoke up for themselves.
Last week I offered to sell Quality Plastics this profile for 6K USD which I feel is reasonable as it is the amount, they deliberately caused me to pay for flights and hotels to appear for court hearings they had no intention of attending. They have not accepted the offer, so I am free to use this profile to warn others.
