UTL WAR: I can't reply a 'mad' person-Rukutana to Anite

Deputy Attorney General Mwesigwa Rukutana has said he won’t reply a ‘mad’ person or else he will be considered mad as well.

Mr Rukutana made the remarks in reference to his junior colleague, State Minister for Finance in charge of Investment and Privatisation, Evlyen Anite

When contacted for a comment over a petition to Inspectorate of Government to have him and others investigated over their wealth and involvement in Uganda Telecom Limited, Rukutana said he would not reply Anite who seem to be mad. “I can’t reply a mad person otherwise I will be considered mad as well” Mr. Rukutana told Eagle Online

A Ugandan citizen Davidson Ssemwanga has petitioned the Inspector General of Government (IGG), urging her to launch an investigation into the alleged illicit wealth of the three government officials as well as their vested interests in the liquidation of Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL).

Mr. Ssemwanga in his petition to the IGG, dated August 19, 2019, alleges that the Auditor General William Byaruhanga, his Deputy Mwesigwa Rukutana and the Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary Keith Muhakanizi own various properties both in Kampala and upcountry

He says Rukutana owns five arcades, six storied apartments in Zana and two houses in Kololo. On the other hand, he says Muhakanizi owns five storied apartments in Bukoto, four in Naguru and three houses in Germany as well as two houses in Mbarara. He alleges that Muhakanizi owns 50 square miles of land, though he did not mention the location of the said land.Further he says:

While “William Byaruhanga has bought land in front of his Rwenzori courts building. He wants his law firm to manage UTL affairs.”

The petitioner further alleges that Rukutana owns companies that export labour out of Uganda to the Middle East and Asia. He says that many girls exported by the companies allegedly owned by Rukutana have been exploited and that their rights have been abused.

On UTL audit, the petitioner must have read the recent disagreements between Byaruhanga, Muhakanizi and Rukutana on one side and Evelyne Anite, State Minister for Investment and Privatisation, who wanted UTL audited and the processing is ongoing following a directive from President Museveni .

On the audit of UTL, Ssemwanga says: “IGG, what has been bothering me and other citizens of Uganda is why public officials would be disagreeing to an audit. The only logic is that they are hiding something. These people have been at the centre of most liquidated public assets in their lifetime of public service.”

Mr Muhakanizi told Eagle Online that the call for investigation into his wealth wasn’t new because every year he declares his wealth to the Inspectorate of Government.

“I won the war on the audit because I insisted that we must follow the law and I insisted on the involvement of the Attorney General Chambers and the court ruling was precisely what we wanted. I am happy that they have petitioned IGG to investigate my wealth because I declare my wealth to the IGG and so there is no fear whatsoever”