The United Nations (UN) is to investigate allegations that Ugandan foreign minister Sam Kutesa used his position as the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) President in 2015 to procure a US$500.000 bribe, sources have indicated.
The development follows an indictment by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), in which the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) last year implicated Kutesa, his wife Edith Kutesa Gasana, former Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiano Gadio and Hong Kong businessman Chi Ping Patrick Ho, alleging that the bribe was meant to favour the latter’s CEFC China Energy Company get lucrative oil and financial sector deals in Uganda.
Indeed, among the allegations by the FBI is that the Kutesas were also involved in plans to board off ‘a local bank’, believed to be Crane Bank, to Chinese investors.
Also, the FBI says the money in contention was sent to Kutesa after his term as UNGA President elapsed in 2016.
‘The $500,000 bribe was wired on May 6, 2016, after Kutesa’s term expired and he’d returned to Uganda and resumed his post as foreign minister. Kutesa and his wife Edith disguised the bribe payment as a donation to their family foundation called the Ugandan Foundation. When an FBI agent went to the street address provided as headquarters on a foundation letterhead, in Kampala, the Ugandan, he discovered that no such charity existed at the location’, the prosecutors allege.
But in November last year the Uganda government, in a statement by foreign affairs Permanent Secretary Patrick Mugoya, issued a rebuttal against the bribery allegations faced by Kutesa, instead saying the latter was simply performing his official duties as UNGA President.
“In the course of his work as President of the General Assembly (PGA) of the United Nations during its 69th Session in 2014 – 2015, Hon. Sam Kutesa interacted and engaged with numerous organizations including, civil society, media and private sector. This engagement, a role undertaken by all the Presidents of the General Assembly, is necessary for promoting the core objectives of the UN in the areas of development, peace and security as well as human rights,” Mugoya’s statement posted on Facebook, read, in part.
It added: “It is therefore erroneous to insinuate or infer that Hon. Sam Kutesa, from references made to him and CEFC in the said media stories, is linked to the bribery allegations.”
But, according to US-based Black Star News publication, the UN was quick to distance itself from the saga, saying Kutesa was not a UN employee.
“Regarding the U.S. Justice Department allegations against Mr. Kutesa, we believe it is appropriate for the Government of Uganda to respond. During his time as President of the General Assembly, Sam Kutesa remained his country’s foreign minister and was not a staff member of the United Nations,” Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, was quoted by the Black Star News as saying in an e-mail message, while reacting to the statement by Mugoya.
The BSN further quoted Farhan Haq: “For our part, we expect all those who hold the office of the President of the General Assembly to uphold the highest standards of transparency and ethics.”
By press time it was possible to get comment from Kutesa or the foreign ministry spokesperson Margaret Kafeero.
Meanwhile, in a related development, late last year the Ntungamo Municipality MP Gerald Karuhanga, asked Parliament to investigate the allegations against the nation’s top diplomat, saying they had damaged the country’s image. He also called for Kutesa’s resignation to pave way for investigations.
But Speaker Rebecca Kadaga turned down the plea, saying it was ‘premature’ for Parliament to investigate Kutesa and instead asked MPs to wait for the ‘outcomes of the proceedings in New York before Parliament can take action over the matter’.
“When we hold public office and there is an investigation against us and we remain in office, then there is a likely hood of influencing investigations. Wouldn’t be prudent to allow free and fair investigation instead of leaving the Minister to curtail and fail any effective investigations?” Karuhanga charged.
