The Executive Secretary of the Departed Asian Property Custodian Borad, Geogre Bizibu is under investigations by the Land Protection Police Unit (LPPU) over allegations of land grabbing at Ssisa Estate in Wakiso district.

The probe into Bizibu was initiated after a complaint was brought against him on the land which has its owners through Ladha Kassam & Company Ltd, the complainant, says before former president Idi Amin expelled Asians in 1972; the company had a model farm of cotton, coffee, poultry and animals on the land.

The company alleges that in 1991 when it re-possessed the land, it was all smooth-sailing until recently when Mr Bizibu claimed 130 acres of the same land.

“Our client has learned that DAPCB through its Executive Secretary is fraudulently laying claim on our client’s land through a letter enclosed herewith,” reads a July 26 letter by the company lawyers, Lwere, Lwanyaga & Company Advocates, to LPPU.

Documents show the land was registered in the company name on July 4, 1955.

Documents including a certificate authorizing repossession dated November 21, 1991, signed by the then Finance Minister, Dr Crispus Kiyonga. The land was originally registered as Freehold Register Volume 3 Folio 15 Busiro Block 408 Plot 3 land at Sisa.

Meanwhile, police is also investigating Bizibu of allegedly holding the office without a valid contract since it expired sometime back.

“We want to establish when he was reappointed and whether the job was adverted because we are also aware that he was a campaigning agent for one of the politician in the Ministry of Finance. How did he end up at DAPCB? Said a police source on condition of anonymity because he isn’t authorized to speak to the press.

Police sources also say, the purported list of properties that was compiled by Bizibu could be an alleged ploy by some people to use it as a money making scheme.

Police further say they also intend to establish whether custodian board especially Mr Bizibu are allegedly trying to use underhand methods by debuting the current owners of properties so as to get compensated by government having failed to get through previously. Mr. Bizibu recently authored a report to Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, State Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) asking the legislator to investigate claims of double payments and irregular accusation of plots and building.

This website failed to get a comment from Mr. Bizibu on the allegations above as his known mobile telephones  were switched off by the time of uploading this story.

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City business tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia through his  Rosebud company has started exporting fresh flowers to China.

The deal to penetrate China was reached after Mr. Rajiv Ruparelia, who is the Managing Director of the Ruparelia Group of Companies signed an agreement with authorities in China.

Flowers from Uganda expecially Rosebud are regarded as the best in the whole world and they have dominated both European and American markets for decades.

“The first commercial shipment to China is ready , all the flowers inspected myself ,looking good. First Shipment to China as very very historical. Very historical as first Ugandan Roses to china by Rosebud”  said Mr. Sudhir.

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Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) of two COMESA Member States, Uganda and Ethiopia were among those recently admitted to the Egmont Group, a global financial network that formulates coordinated policies and responses to financial crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing.

Their admission alongside the Dominican Republic, Palestine, Papua New Guinea and Turkmenistan was a key highlight of the 26th Plenary of the Egmont Group of FIUs held at the Hague, Netherlands, 1st – 5th July.  This brings the membership of the Egmont Group to 164 countries.

The processes leading to the attainment of the standards required for a Financial Intelligence Unit to gain membership to the Egmont Group are long and can take many years. It therefore requires, among other things that the country has enacted sound laws and legislation as guided by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

FAFT is the intergovernmental body that sets standards, develops and promotes policies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. It has so far developed a set of 40 rules to provide measures against money laundering given that the crime is transnational and the success in combatting it requires international cooperation

Among these rules is a requirement for a country to establish a national center for receipt and analysis of suspicious transaction reports and other information relevant to money laundering and terrorism financing.

Following this development, the Head of Peace and Security programme in COMESA Ms. Elizabeth Mutunga said Ethiopia Financial Intelligence Center (FIC) and Uganda Financial Intelligence Authority will now benefit from among other things, the ability to exchange financial intelligence with other FIUs through a secured communication platform.

“Their personnel will also benefit from regular training by experts in the field as well as opportunities for personnel exchanges to enhance the effectiveness of the FIUs,” Ms. Mutunga said.

She added:

“Given the trans-national nature of money laundering, information exchange between jurisdictions is very important but because of the sensitive nature of the information, FIUs are only willing to exchange information with peers that are established within the international standards.”

Considering the benefits that member states derive from membership to Egmont, as well as an assurance of sustainability of COMESA MASE capacity building efforts, COMESA has prioritized support to FIUs to join group.

Mauritius FIU was the first COMESA Member State FIU to join the Egmont Group in 2003.  Others include the FIU of Seychelles, which joined in 2013, Egypt Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Combatting Unit (2004), Malawi Financial Intelligence Unit (2009), Sudan Financial Information Unit (2017) and Zambia Financial Reporting Center (2018).

Mauritius, Seychelles and Zambia are beneficiary countries to COMESA Maritime Security (MASE) programme. They attained membership to the Egmont Group before commencement of COMESA MASE support.

COMESA facilitated Ethiopia FIC to improve its operations and its ICT systems as wells as sponsoring study tours to other countries with well-developed systems. COMESA MASE is currently working with the Madagascar FIU known as SAMIFIN towards its successful application for Egmont Group membership.

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