UNRA’s Kagina in crisis as whistleblower implicates top directors in corruption scandal

The Uganda National Roads Authority Executive Director Allen Catherine Kakuyo Kagina is pleading with the Inspector General of Government, Irene Mulyagonja to release a corruption report on three directors who are said to have had selfish interests in the award of a contract to a Chinese road construction company.

Kagina in her August 2, 2018 letter to the IGG, said UNRA’s board of directors were in need of an update as regards the corruption-related investigations against the three officials who were accused by a whistleblower on July 17, 2018.

There three accused officials include; Mary Kamuli Kuteesa-Director Legal Services, Moses Kasakya-Director Internal Auditor and John Ongimu Omeke-Director Procurement.

The purpose of this letter is to request for an update on this matter to unable us update the UNRA Board of Directors. We enclose here in a photocopy of the whistleblower letter in issue for ease reference,” Kagina wrote in a letter that the IGG received on August 3, 2018.

However in a letter dated August 6, Kagina wrote again to the IGG, suggesting that the implicated officials be helped so as to keep their jobs.

“The Board is on my neck to know the status of UNRA staff that are under investigation by IGG, they might lose their jobs if they are not helped,” she wrote.
However, sources at the office of the IGG say Kagina did not respect their advice to suspend the three officials before investigations against them could be launched. It is not clear whether the UNRA board is aware that the IGG asked Kagina to suspend the officials.

According to the whistleblower, Kuteesa who is a member of UNRA’s contracts committee participated in the award of the contract to a Chinese company in which her husband has interest, yet she had not disclosed the information. She is accused of misleading the board and influence peddling.

The whistleblower accused Kuteesa that her husband through his law firm-Arcodco and Co. Advocates represents Chinese construction companies- China Wuyi, China Communications and China Construction Company (CCCC).

Related story: https://eagle.co.ug/2018/01/17/top-unra-official-under-probe-by-the-igg.html

Further, the whistleblower said her participation in the procurement processes led to the dismissal other companies with justifiable reasons and that she has disorganized the organization’s procurement process.

CCCC won the contract to build the 51.4 kilometers Entebbe Express at about Shs1.2 trillion. The road was launched in mid-June by President Yoweri Museveni and Mr Wang Yang, the chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

Eagle Online has reliably learnt that the so called whistleblower is actually an inside at UNRA and this information on deals within the authority is a known but was left out for fear to implicate those seen as clean and the blue eyed officials of the Executive Director.