KAMPALA, UGANDA — Uganda has known different Asian families on the business scene starting with Mukwano, Madhvani, Karim Hirji and the current mogul Sudhir Ruparelia. However, there are new kids on the block in the country’s business arena by the names of the Rai family which is mainly headed by two brothers namely Sarbjit Singh Rai based in Uganda and Jaswant Singh Rai based in Kenya. They ventured into Uganda in 2006 after acquiring majority shares in Kinyara Sugar Works Limited (now Kinyara Sugar Limited-KSL).
According to registration documents from Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), Kinyara Sugar Limited is owned by two major shareholders namely Rai Holdings Limited and Vectrum Uganda Limited.
Rai Holdings Limited is owned by Sarbjit Singh Rai and Jaswant Singh Rai while Vectrum Uganda Limited is currently owned by Rajbir Singh Rai, Amaanraj Singh Rai (members of the Rai family) as well as two Ugandans namely Herbert Kaganda and Enoch Rukidi, a senior partner in Kasirye & Byaruhanga Advocates in Kampala.
At the time of Kinyara privatization in 2006, it was reported that the buyers of the sugar factory, Rai Holdings Limited, was a Mauritian company, but available records show that it has since been incorporated in Uganda.
Former Attorney General and renowned Kampala Businessman and lawyer William Byaruhanga of Kasirye & Byaruhanga Advocates has been and still is the Corporation Secretary of Rai Holdings Limited since the company came into Uganda, and he has been at the forefront during their growth and expansion in the country.
On the other hand, Vectrum Uganda Limited was registered in the country on 17th January 2018 after an amalgamation of Vectrum Overseas Holding Limited and Opal Property Holding Limited with two directors; Mohamed Ali, a dutch businessman in Kampala and Patel Rajesh Dhanji, a Ugandan businessman and owner of Eminga Overseas Limited based in the Island of Nevis.
However, a company resolution of 16th October 2018 resolved that both Mohamed Ali and Patel Rajesh Dhanji were no longer Directors of Vectrum Uganda Limited and new Directors namely Rajbir Singh Rai, Amaanraj Singh Rai, Herbert Kaganda and Enoch Rukidi (senior partner at Kasirye Byaruhanga & Company Advocates) were named.
On the same day, a resolution was passed for Vectrum Uganda Limited to enter into a Share Subscription Agreement (SSA) with Flamboyant Care International Limited and a total of 9970 Shares were allotted to Flamboyant Care International Limited.
According to documents received, two Kinyara Sugar Limited Directors namely Sarbjit Singh Rai (for Rai Holdings Limited) and William Byaruhanga (for Vectrum Uganda Limited) sign most documents that are filed to URSB. It is not clear why William Byaruhanga signs off as a Director for Vectrum Uganda Limited yet he is not named in any registration documents as one, and yet Rajbir Singh Rai, Amaanraj Singh Rai, Enoch Rukidi and Herbert Kaganda who are the registered Vectrum Uganda Limited Directors are also Kinyara Sugar Limited Directors.
Jaswant Singh Rai does not appear in most documents as a Director of Kinyara Sugar Limited, but he is named as one, according to a 10th August 2021 communication from URSB to Shonubi Musoke & Company Advocates.
The amended Memorandum and Articles of Association for Kinyara Sugar Ltd that were adopted on 13th April 2023 and filed to the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) on 14th April 2023 indicates that Kinyara Sugar Ltd has a share capital of 12 billion Uganda shillings divided into 75 million shares of 160 Uganda shillings each. The same document also indicates that Rai Holdings Limited has 26,789,787 shares and Vectrum Uganda Limited has 11,481,338 shares.
Sarbjit Singh Rai and Jaswant Singh Rai are cousins. Their fathers were brothers who migrated from India to Kenya and set up businesses, which were later on taken over by their enterprising sons. Though Sarbjit and Jaswant are both Kenyan citizens and started out working in Kenya, Sarbjit moved to Uganda to establish their empire which continues to thrive.
Jaswant owns sugar companies in Kenya like Sukari Industries Ltd, West Kenya Sugar Ltd and Olepito Sugar Ltd. He is also big in supply of plywood products and real estate in Kenya and the region on top of a chain of other businesses in the region.
On the other hand, Sarbjit established and owns Sarrai Group in Uganda which has grown and acquired more companies.
Apart from Kinyara Sugar Ltd, other Ugandan companies in the Sarrai Group include Hoima Sugar Ltd, Nile Plywood, Nile Fiberboards Ltd, Tasco Industries making soap and cooking oil, Engano Millers making wheat flour and bread, Vitafoam Ltd making mattresses, and Hima Cement Ltd which was acquired by Sarrai Group from the Swiss Holcim in 2023 at a cost of 120 million US dollars. Most of the companies in the Sarrai Group in Uganda are former public companies that have since been privatized. Sarbjit also owns companies in Kenya and Malawi.
On 17th April 2025, another former public company in the name of Kilembe Mines Limited was also handed over to Sarrai group to resume copper mining in Kilembe, which has been dormant since 1982. The handover ceremony was presided over by junior minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Phiona Nyamutoro at the Ministry headquarters in Kampala.
Sarrai Group wanted to take over Mumias Sugar Company in Kenya, but Kenyan Courts of law found out that the Group, which was the lowest bidder, had engaged in criminal methods in its bid for Mumias Sugar Company leading to cancellation of the deal. In the process of trying to acquire Mumias Sugar Company, Sarbjit’s Sarrai Group got into direct competition with Jaswant’s West Kenya Sugar Ltd which was also interested in acquiring Mumias Sugar Company.
One could be misled to believe that Sarbjit and Jaswant were competing for Mumias Sugar Company but the fact is they are one and the same people working as a family. The show they put up for Mumias was just that; a show. That is why the Sarrai bid also fell short in the face of the Competition Authority of Kenya and was also disallowed by Kenyan Courts. On the political side, President Ruto was also against having either Sarbjit’s Sarrai Group or Jaswant’s West Kenya Sugar Ltd take over Mumias Sugar Company.
In Uganda, Sarrai Group came under fire before the Bamugemeire Land Commission because of the way it conducted land evictions in the oil-rich Hoima district during the process of acquiring land for the establishment of Hoima Sugar Ltd, forcing thousands of people into IDP camps.
During the Commission hearing chaired by Justice Catherine Bamugemeire, Sarrai Group was accused of meting out brutality to the over 5000 families that were evicted from their ancestral land to make way for Hoima Sugar Ltd. On top of that, the Group paid the evictees 30,000 Uganda shillings (8 US Dollars) per Acre, which was far way below the market price for the land. Before the Commission in January 2022, Sarrai Group conceded and accepted to renegotiate with the evictees.
Former Attorney General William Byaruhanga is not without stains. In a letter dated 19th August 2019, a concerned citizen by the name of Davidson Semwanga petitioned the Inspector General of Government (IGG) to investigate Byaruhanga’s wealth due to what the petitioner termed as “Byaruhanga’s efforts to block the audit of Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL) against the aspirations of the population that is hungry for accountability.”
The petitioner mentioned that “the logic is that by blocking the Audit of UTL, Byaruhanga has something to hide. These people have been at the center of all privatized public assets, and now here he is as Attorney General blocking the audit.”
The petition to audit Byaruhanga’s wealth came just days after the Minister of State for Finance in charge of Privatization and Investment, Evelyn Anite had told the public that “37 government companies had been sold over the last two decades but the proceeds from the sale of those companies did not go to the Consolidated Fund Account in the Central Bank as required, but ended up on private accounts in commercial banks.”
Chronology of Kinyara Sugar Limited
1964: conception of the idea to build a sugar processing plant in Kinyara.
1970: A company, the National Sugar Company, was established but immediately ran into problems with the Amin regime in 1971 when Amin took power and in 1972 expelled the Asians who were the pillar at the plant. Due to the wars and mismanagement in the country in the 70’s and 80’s, the plant halted production.
1988: With help of a developer, Booker Tate Ltd, Kinyara was resuscitated back to life with financial and technical assistance from different international development partners. Booker Tate Ltd managed the plant until 2006 when it was privatized and rebranded as Kinyara Sugar Ltd.
2006: Government sold 51 percent shareholding to the Mauritius-based RAI Holdings and retained 49 percent shares in Kinyara Sugar Works Ltd.
2011: Government sold another 19 percent to RAI Holdings at a cost of 9.1 million dollars, remaining with 30 percent shares. At this point, RAI Holdings controlled 70 percent of the shares. Government decided to distribute the remaining 30 percent shares as follows; 10 percent shares to the Omukama of Bunyoro, 10 percent shares to the employees of Kinyara Sugar Ltd and 10 percent shares to the Kinyara Sugar cane out-growers.
It remains unclear how the 30 percent shareholding came to be owned by a private entity, Vectrum Uganda Limited.
